A Mother and a Mate
by Niras91
Summary: How would the story go, if Splinter (Pet origin) would find a woman for himself and a mother for the 4 small turtles he cares for. This woman would change a few things, of course! M-rated for several reasons, like curses, violence and other stuff.
1. Chapter 1

**This Story is dedicated to my friend from University, who complained that the poor Splinter should get a mate and the turtles should gain a Mom. So here it is^^**

 **Ninja Turtles aren`t mine... Shame on that.. But my OC`s are^^**

* * *

The day was cold and rainy, nothing like spring should be. The wind was singing through old abandoned houses, bringing more of the cold and the rain. The city looked like a stray dog ducking down in a corner under a card box to safe itself from the heavy downpour. The wind herded the cold drops around, whipping them against every surface available.

And down onto a teenager, nearly a woman, who tried to fight against the unholy weather, her hands gripping her hood. With fast steps the woman ran along the streets, cursing slightly under her breath. Her trousers and her jacket were drenched with the cold water and her boots were slippery, the cold fluid already inside of it. A heavy messenger bag, filled to the rim and looking like it would spontaneously explode, was secured on her shoulder.

Her blue eyes were watering from the wind, her pale skin pinked with the storms force and a few white hairs escaped her hood, whipping around her head like small snakes.

With other, colorful curses in two different languages, the woman tore around a street corner and into a smaller alley which would lead to her apartment. One of the more dangerous shortcuts, but she was desperate to get out of the storm and into her own four walls. In her mind was a picture of a few warm blankets on the couch and the TV with the anime marathon for this evening.

But all this homely thoughts were frozen as the woman got a few meters into the alley. She slowed her running to smaller steps, creeping through the small shadows around her as her eyes landed on a scene. The small streetlights were swinging around, their lights dancing over droplets of different fluids, red, green and brownish droplets were everywhere, flying around and mixing with the clear drops of rain. Grunts, laughter, high pitched whimpers and screams mixed together with swaying schemes and cowering shadows.

4 men were crowding a big person, who was crouched over something smaller, maybe a little box, in which you could see something green moving. The Person growled so loud and deep that the woman could hear it over the laughter and the comments of the thugs.

It only took her a few seconds to determine that the 4 men were scum, dressed in false leather with spikes and tribals on every available surface, their hair cut nearly to the skin or looking like disfigured waterfalls. Their faces, or what she could see of it, were covered in bruises and piercings, one or two tattoos even, but their eyes were firmly set onto the person in their midst. They were hitting him, pushing him around and one even draw a knife to threaten with.

The woman stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes landed on the bigger person, one of the lights illuminated it rather bad, but she could see something that should not be! What she thought was a brown coat was fur, what seemed like long fingers, were slender paws with claws. And for just one single, oh so short moment, his eyes caught hers, warm but desperate meeting shocked but determined.

This moment was all she needed.

Her brows drew together as she snatched her messenger bag and lifted it up. She sped up again and swung around, the bag following the movements. Moments later it crashed into the head of one of the men, who then fell like a log of wood. Her heart clenched and pained her, she was an enemy of inflicting pain and now here she was, pummeling a man with her overweight bag. A small noise of distress escaped her lips.

The noise stopped altogether, 4 pairs of eyes solely focusing on her as she used the momentum of her bag to step away from the ring of men and the rat. The man on the ground was still, but his chest was still rising and falling, which calmed the woman's racing heart.

"WHAT do you think you are doing? What the fuck was that?! You stupid little BITCH!" the biggest of the men spat at her, his eyes glowing with rage as he mustered the small woman in front of him. With fast reflexes he grabbed the woman by her shoulder and with the other hand hit her across the cheek.

The rat deposited the box in his hand to the ground and stepped over it, his long tail whipped around one of the still standing men's ankle, tripping him down as he threw himself at the other one with the knife. His long claw-like hands gripped the man's throat, nearly caressing it as it slid over his soft skin to his neck. Before the thug could utter a curse or act in any way, the rat pressed his fingers into one single point and the man froze, his face paled and he fell like a dropped doll. The rat`s eyes landed for a split second on the falling woman, his lips parted to show sharp teeth as he turned around to the more pressing threat for his children.

At the same time the woman hit the ground, hard, a yelp escaped her mouth and one of her hands went to her burning cheek, covering it. Her eyes wandered upwards, meeting the enraged gaze of the man who hit her. In the back of her head she registered the moving shadows behind the giant, the small grunts and thuds that came from a body hitting the ground.

"You little bicth! You really want to mess with the Purple Dragons? You will PAY!" he drew his hand back and lifted one boot to kick the small woman. She covered her head with both arms and curled into herself, waiting for the blow and the pain but it never came.

Several moments passed as she uncurled and stared at a brown furred paw in front of her. Her eyes followed the hand to an arm and higher up, until she could look into soft and warm eyes. The thug lay on his back, his eyes glazed over and his legs were twitching.

"Thank you." She spoke and accepted the offered hand. With more strength as she had thought the rat would possess he helped her to her feet and steadied her. But as soon as he had touched her, he let go and went to the box, lifting it up again.

His eyes were fixed on the small female, who just stared at him. He could see shocked eyes in the color of the blue and fierce sky after a storm, nearly white hair framed a heart shaped face, and her skin was pale. All in all she looked like a breeze could knock her over, but her actions told him otherwise. She had defended him and his little ones although not even knowing him, her heart was brave.

As she opened her mouth, a little bit more light illuminated her features and he scowled as he could see a dark splotch on her cheek. He could feel his hand twitch, but pressed it a bit more against the box with his whimpering younglings. He expected her to scream and to run away, but to his shock she stepped towards him.

"Sir… Are you hurt? Did…" she closed her mouth again, unsure what to say and shuffled her feet. She started shivering as the wind blew with renewed strength. Before either woman or rat could say something more, the lid of the box, more like a chest, opened and a small green head showed itself. A small head of a turtle, soft green eyes gazed over her before the small baby smiled and ducked down gurgling sounds and whimpers reached the woman`s ears and her heart clenched again.

"Are those…" The rat pressed the box to his chest, his ears flattened against his head.

"These… These are my younglings. We had to flee to the surface, this storm caused a flood in the sewers, but then this men came and you know the rest. I have to thank you, for defending me and my children. But I have to ask, why are you not afraid? I mean, a giant, talking rat and small baby turtles are not common…" his voice was deep and soft and it sent shivers over the woman`s back. She had to think actively about his questions.

"It would be natural to be afraid, right? It would be normal to call for help now, or to hit you with my bag. It would be common sense to scream. But I am not normal myself. People don`t like how I look and they say things about me that… That doesn`t belong here right now. Let`s just say that I don`t think that you should judge others by their appearance." She sighed as she looked around and grabbed her bag again, lifting it upon her shoulder.

The rat shivered and felt his tail twitch. Never had he imagined to meet a human like that, who wouldn`t scream or run away. It was a new experience for him. But what should he do now? The Sewers were still flooded and the storm would kill him and the little ones before the sun would even start to rise. His fur was already drenched and the cold made his fingers stiff.

"Ähm… Sir, you could… My apartment is nearby and you… I have enough space for you and your children. This is the least I could do for you… If you want, that is…" her soft voice traveled barely over the rain to the rat.

He hesitated, eyed the female and sniffed the air. She smelled like lemons and raspberry, pure, and he couldn't detect any sign of treason and she offered him a safe place for the night. At least his children would need it.

"I would like that very much, thank you." He smiled at her, exposing some of his teeth to her, but she just smiled back and stepped around him, following the darkening alley to the next street where she stopped and stared at him.

"Here, take that, this will keep you hidden and it is just a few more steps to my apartment." A soft jacket was thrown over his head and he could feel the small tugs on it as the female righted it on his head, covering his head and shoulders the best she could before she took his arm and lead him along the street, passing houses and shops and several other alleys, before turning into a backyard and opening a small door.

"Sorry, I forgot, my name is Winter and I welcome you to my humble abode."

* * *

Splinter moaned as the hot water scaled over his body, chasing away the cold he felt to this point. To his feet sat his 4 little babies, staring at him with wide eyes. They, too, were enjoying the warmth from the water and happy to be out of their makeshift transportation.

The female, Winter, had given him 5 big towels and shooed him and the little ones into her bathroom, she had even told him to take his time and to relax under their while she would cook something to eat for all of them.

Leonardo and Donatello sat to his feet, splashing water at each other while Michelangelo and Raphael were sliding through the water in the tub, chasing each other. The happy giggles and yelps lifted his heart. He had feared the worst as the thugs had surrounded him, he could have either beaten them or defend his young, and his former Owner Hamato Yoshi would be not amused if he had gotten the young ones injured.

And now, thanks fate or Kami, he had found a kind hearted woman, who offered her own home to him and his younglings as a shelter for the storm. He felt something warm inside of him, near his fast beating heart.

He would never forget the kindness of Winter and if he could, he would cherish her as his friend.

A knock on the door ended his fantasies of warmth and safety and he lifted his head again. The small turtles were leaning over the rim of the tub, staring intently at the door.

"Dinner is finished. You can come out whenever you want to. Also I took the liberty to find your Babies something to wear, as for yourself, I think I found a robe for you, which should fit. I hope you don`t mind." Her voice was soft and sounded like small bells in his ears, it caused a small shiver to run over his spine. But he couldn`t linger on this thoughts, he didn`t even know if she would want to hold contact to him.

"We will be out soon, my friend. Just need to towel us dry."

* * *

Winter chuckled softly to herself as she turned away from the bathroom door.

The smell of bacon and garlic drifted around the small living room, mixed with the fruity smell of the orange juice she loved.

"He called me `friend`. I really like that!" She sat down on her couch, absently patting the small blankets she had found in her closet for the turtle tots. And now, she could only wait for her guests to emerge.

* * *

 **So, any critics or comments?**

 **Don`t worry, the next chapter should be up soon^^**

 **I will make a few chapters about the turtle tot stage, but then go into the series.**

 **Don`t worry, my Oc is no Mary-Sue!**

 **And she will never be.**

 **And whoever is wondering about her looks, Winter has albinism, not the hardest form.**

 **XD**

 **Stay tuned in^^**


	2. Lasagna

**I couldn`t resist XD**

 **I loved the little scene here and thought that i should show it to you all XD**

 **TMNT is not mine, only Winter is.**

* * *

Winter`s apartment was small, just two rooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a small closet for some smaller things and cleaning equipment. The two rooms were her living room and her bedroom, both of them not really big. For just one person, it was more than enough, but now with two adults (one a rat and one human) and 4 little babies (small, little, agile devils of the turtle kind), it was more than cramped in there.

Winter had to drag the two smaller chairs from the living room into the kitchen, so that everyone could sit on something, and even got a few smaller towels and blankets on top of the chairs to make it more comfortable. The shower was now out, indicating that Splinter was indeed trying to towel dry the turtles and indicating that she would have to take the Lasagna and the garlic bread out of the oven.

Humming softly under her breath she opened the oven and put the food on the small, set table, nearly burning her fingers in the process. Still humming Winter turned around to face the kitchen door just to –

Just to witness a small green turtle, clad into a soft pink towel escape out of the slightly ajar bathroom door, speed crawling away and giggling softly. The small one stopped for a brief moment and she could see his head swivel around for a second a freckled face with baby blue eyes before he continued his crawling into her living room.

Winter tilted her head, slightly confused and a small smile spread over her lips. With long strides she stepped into the living room, following the pink towel around her couch and then under her small TV table. The soft giggling warmed her heart slightly and her smile widened. She looked back into the corridor.

"Splinter, sir? I think you lost a walking towel! It should be a pink one, am I correct?" her soft voice silenced the noises from the bathroom and she could picture in her head, how Splinters ears would be twitching and his eyes would wonder around, counting his sons. A small groan escaped the bathroom, her only confirmation.

She laughed.

And got down to her knees, looking under the small table. Reaching under she lifted a small corner of the pink towel, grinning as the blue eyes locked with her own. The small one yelped and patted his hands down on the floor, he tried to hide under his towel again and Winter chuckled and let go of the corner.

"Where, o where could the little turtle be?" she singsonged and got to her feet again, walking around the room and ignored the excited giggle, which wandered from under her table to her only bookshelf.

"Oh where could he be? Maybe he is on my couch?" Winter jumped onto her couch, eliciting small huffs from the small baby in the bookshelf.

"No, I can`t see him anywhere. Maybe he is gone? Like the wind? Or maybe he is…. HERE!" She had tiptoed to his position and with her last word, grabbed him, lifted him up and cuddled him slightly to her chest. The small turtle yelped and laughed, his now free arms wiggling around like mad. Winter took off the towel, leaving only his legs and bottom covered in it.

The small one wiggled around, his mouth open and his eyes sparkling as he reached his stubby arms up to touch her face. Pudgy fingers entangled in her hair, tugging on it harshly. Winter gasped but didn`t move the small one as he brought her hair nearer to his face, forcing her head to move along. His fingers wandered from her hair to her face again, finding her left ear and before she could do so much as move, he brought his head forwards and closed his mouth around her earlobe.

Winter whined as a small, wet tongue caressed her flesh there.

"I am sorry, but have you…" Winter turned her head carefully, moving the turtle with her as her eyes landed on one huge rat, clad into a green old robe. His muzzle twitched as he managed his three sons, two in his arms and one held by his pink tail. His eyes were zooming in on her situation and a soft, deep chuckle left his chest.

"Ah, I see, you have found Michelangelo, my youngest. And it seems he has taken quite a liking to you, Miss Winter. But I hope that you don`t mind, that I took the clothes you prepared for me. Thank you again for that." His eyes never left hers, even as she yelped as Michelangelo tried to tug at her earlobe.

"…Help?" she whispered and her gaze dropped to the other three turtles, which were laughing loudly at her situation. One was clad into a red towel, another in a yellow one (which he didn`t seem to like so much) and the last one had a white and black striped towel.

"Of course, Miss Winter. Little Michelangelo is ticklish under his feet. He should let go of you after that. But please, don`t tell him that I told another person his secret tickle-spot!" He smiled at the last part of the sentence and smiled even wider when Winter followed his advice and his youngest started laughing louder than before.

Her gaze wandered back to her open kitchen door, locking on the food there, than at the table and she sighed.

"If you don`t mind, I think we should eat from the floor today. I fear that the small ones will fall from the chairs if we sit at my table. I should have thought about that sooner. And, would you tell me their names?" Winter sat Michelangelo down on the floor, happy that it was a carpeted floor and warmer than her kitchen tiles.

Her guest laughed silently and followed suit, sitting his three other sons down to his youngest. The one with the green eyes nearly jumped on his escapist of a brother, hugging him tightly to his chest, while the amber eyed brother patted his shell and the other blue eyed one simply looked relieved at his father.

"I can tell you a few things when we eat, and may I say that it smells delicious, long has it been that I smelled something so good. And I can only thank you again for helping me and my sons. I am really in your debt for this and the shelter you offer us." Winter blinked at him, her cheeks flushing a soft red and she hurried into the kitchen, putting Lasagna and garlic bread on the dishes.

* * *

Getting the small ones to eat was more like a fight than everything Splinter had faced today. The heavenly smelling Lasagna nearly send his own taste buds into heaven and his small ones had eaten when he had put the first fork into his mouth. Michelangelo was head first on his plate, forgoing his fork to just shovel the food with his hands in his mouth. Raphael speared the food with his fork before shoving huge amounts in his mouth, partly greasing the sauce in his face. Donatello was looking at his own fork in wonder, opening his little mouth when Winter held a spoon to him. And Leonardo tried to mimic him, trying to handle his fork with his smaller and weaker fingers, with which Splinter helped him slightly.

His eyes, although he tried to avoid it, always wandered back to the smaller female in front of the couch. She had a soft expression on her face as she tried to feed his third oldest son. Her pale skin was like fine marble, he had once seen when his Owner had travelled with him. Her soft blue eyes had a tinge of red in it, which should look gruesome on a human, but it only fascinated him more. Her hair was so bright, it was nearly silver in color and underlined her pretty eyes even more. She hadn`t even reacted when little Michelangelo had smeared parts of his tomato sauce on her clothing, she had merely chuckled and sent a huge smile to him, which had his heart beating faster and his fur nearly standing.

He cleared his throat as he processed where his thoughts were going and shoved another fork of this heavenly treat in his mouth, chewing slowly.

"Their names are Leonardo, the oldest, Raphael the second oldest, then Donatello und at last Michelangelo." Splinter pointed at each son in their turn.

"I named them after the famous artists, I got that from a book I found in the sewers. And they respond to that. So, may I inquire your full name, Miss Winter?" The name rolling over his tongue felt like satin. She grinned at him again.

"My name is Winter Callahan, but please, just call me Winter. Not `Miss` or something, just Winter please. And I think it is my turn to ask questions again. And I really hope that I don`t be rude towards you, but could you explain to me how you became like this? You and the small turtles?" She tilted her head, which was utterly cute with this small grin of hers and the slightly closed eyes and her smell just –

"Yes, of course, but please I have to ask of you that you will not talk to others about me and my sons." She nodded and crossed her finger over her heart, murmuring something aloud.

"Versprochen ist versprochen und wird nicht gebrochen!" she grinned again at him, showing a little bit of teeth.

"What did you just say?" she laughed aloud.

"My family is partly from Germany, so I swore in German to protect your secret. You could translate it with something like `Cross my heart and hope to die`."

Splinter drew his breath and looked over his young sons and then again to the small woman in front of him.

"You must understand that I wasn`t always like this. A few months away I was only a pet rat of a great man. His name was Hamato, Yoshi and he was a master at the art of ninjutsu, the art of ninjas. He had a wonderful wife and a small daughter, his life seemed to be great and everything was in his favor till this one day. One of his former friends came to his house one night. I really don`t want to tell you all the gruesome details. He killed the whole family, burned down the house, I escaped after I attacked him and got here. I lived down in the sewers, an ordinary rat, till one day I heard a loud noise from above me. Before I could react in some way 4 little turtles, covered in a smelling and green goo were washed down there, right in front of my paws. I couldn`t just leave the babies there, so I grabbed them and brought them to my burrow. The green goo had also dropped over me, but I barely thought about that."

He chuckled softly to himself as his hands wiped some food from Raphaels face.

"The next thing I knew was, that I was in immense pain, which seemed to last for a long time. I awoke to Leonardo, who tugged at my whiskers. He was concerned for me and his brothers. I wouldn`t believe my eyes as I saw them for the first time. They had grown to the size of small babies! Shortly after I discovered that my burrow would be too small for all of us, I learned how to walk on two legs, which made carrying the small ones easier. We lived down in the sewer ever since, till the storm hit us and forced us to go. And you know the rest." His deep voice rang through the silence. His sons and Winter were looking at him with awe (all of them), love (his sons) and admiration (Winter and Leonardo).

Winter opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a loud yawn, curtesy of small Donatello.

Both Splinter and Winter stared at the small ones and then at a digital clock on top of her TV.

"I think we should get the small turtles to sleep. They can have my bed, it would be too small to fit you, so you can have my couch. And I don`t want to hear anything against it! You had a long day and I have still work to do. I will get you some blankets and pillows for the couch!" Splinter had opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it as she went on with her speech. He sighed, lifting his paws in mock surrender, sending her a smile.

He was more than satisfied with her reaction, he could see the small shiver, that ran along her delicate spine and her smell intensified slightly.

Together they got the turtles to her bedroom and into her bed, bunching up some blankets to prevent them from falling down. Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael were already asleep, their tiny bodies pressed against each other after Splinter gave them a small kiss on their heads.

Just Donatello was awake, but barely. Even a kiss from Splinter wasn`t enough and his small amber eyes locked with Winters blue orbs. Small, pudgy hands opened and closed in the air as he reached for her.

First she was stunned, but got over it quickly. Her soft hands caressed the small head before she pressed a tender kiss to his forehead.

"Good night, small one."

* * *

Later that night Splinter woke up on the couch, his blankets firmly wrapped around him. Something had woken him up, his instincts were on edge. The surroundings were unfamiliar but his thoughts caught up with his brain quickly enough.

He couldn`t see one of his sons, nor could he hear them scream or call for him. What he could hear were small breaths, not so far away. His searching eyes soon found the figure of a small woman on the ground, a thin blanket draped over her lithe body.

A small smile came onto his face and he could feel his tail whipping around.

With slow and careful movements he left the big couch, tiptoeing to Winter and crouching beside her. Her warm huffs of breath caressed over his muzzle, sending shivers through his body. It was… nice.

Gently he lifted her into his arms, cradling her to his furry chest, as he went back to the couch. His tail grabbed the thin blanket, dragging it with him. He laid down first, the female still cuddled against his chest and draped the other blankets over the two of them.

He relaxed.

Her scent drifted up his nose, lulling him back to sleep. At the brink of oblivion he could feel his tail wander up, wrapping around something warm and silky.

* * *

 **Any of you have wishes for other situations? I have a few Ideas, but i would like to hear more XD**

 **Hope you liked that chapter XD**

 **Did Splinter was too OoC?**

 **I don`t really know...**


	3. Serious

**Back again^^ Thank you thankyouthankyou for all this lovely commentars^^ i will reply next chapter XD**

 **But i don`t really like this chapter...**

 **It is just to clear some facts, and has one really cute scene between Raphie and Donnie...**

 **But don`t fear, the next chapters will be better.**

 **Any of you suggestions about scenes, you would like to read? My own small plot starts in between, so don`t worry XD**

 **Hope you read me again^^**

* * *

The storm lasted for two more days, days that were spend in her apartment with one giant mutant rat und 4 small, curious turtle babies. It was a tight fit in there, but they managed. They ate on the floor for the adults were afraid to place the babies on the chairs. They had to push the small table in the living room against the wall for more space.

It was on the second day of her guests stay, in the evening as both Winter and Splinter tried to get the small ones to sleep, but they seemed so full of energy and restless that both adults were near to cave in, just cry out loud and jump out of their skins. Even the food that Winter had cooked wasn`t enough to settle the baby turtles. So she had left for a few minutes to gather much needed things and brought them back into the living room, her arms loaded with different items.

Winter had placed all of her blankets in the free space, trying to make some comfortable playground for the small turtles, which already were worming into her heart. She even found some old children books in an old cardboard box of hers and enjoyed reading it aloud to the small ones. Although little Donatello with his amber eyes tried to pry the books out of her hands every time. Leonardo, with his deep blue eyes, would cuddle into the blankets, and stare at Splinter, who was busy to entertain his youngest with his tail.

Small Raphael was sitting on the edge of the blankets, his face sour and his eyes narrowed to small slits, his gaze never leaving his amber eyed brother. Splinters ears twitched and a small smile ghosted over his lips as he tilted his head to look at his second oldest son, who huffed in something like annoyance.

As Donatello got his pudgy fingers again on the book, interrupting the soft flowing of words from Winter, Raphael crawled forwards, his eyes set on his brother, who sat in Winters lap, tugging at the book to get it for himself. Raphael grunted as he reached the human female and, with a little help of the female herself, succeeded in climbing into her lap too. With an annoyed groan he bobbed his brother on the head and gurgled at him.

Donatello froze as his brother treated him like that, his hands fell down on his legs and he stared into the green eyes of his older brother, small tears forming in the corner of his eyes. He started sobbing quietly, his gaze wandering from Raphael to Winter, who was shocked about the actions of the older turtle.

"Raphael! What did you do? What were you…" her voice faltered as Raphael looked at her with a small grin and then patted his brother on his bald head, his voice now softer as he gurgled to the whining turtle, who sniffed one more time before cuddling against his brother. The older turtle cooed at him, his little legs working to get himself and his brother comfortable.

Winter stared shocked at the two babies in her lap, wiggling around till they stopped. Raphael was laying on his shell, his brother pressed against his side, both arms slung around Raphael's neck. They both turned their heads to stare at her, waiting for something.

Winter blinked slowly and opened the book again, searching for the right page, while her thoughts got overboard with this cuteness. Little Raphael seemed to enjoy her stories, so he had tried to hear more but when Donatello would try to steal her book, she would always pause to wait till she got it back. So Raphael had taken the matter in his own hands, and now both could listen, or so ran it through Winters head at least.

Splinter had just chuckled to himself, while trying to evade Michelangelo's attempts at tugging at his sensitive whiskers. Leonardo was already tugged against his chest, fast asleep, his mouth opened a bit for breathing.

"The small hare was exhausted, all day long he had tried to show the big hare how much he loved him, just to get stomped by the bigger hare. He tried to jump to measure his love, the bigger hare jumped higher. The little hare tried to race as fast as he could, his attempt to show how much he loved the bigger hare. The bigger hare was even faster. He slumped to the ground, cuddled up against the bigger hare and sighed. `Tomorrow, I will show you how much I love you` he said and promptly fell asleep. The bigger hare laughed and looked up in the sky, where the moon stood full and shining. Then he looked down again at the smaller hare. `I love to the moon and back` he said, before falling asleep." Her voice trailed off as she placed the book down again.

The small turtles in her lap were both fast asleep, little Raphael had his hands up, while Donatello had grabbed one of his brother's hands and was sucking on Raphael's thumb. Michelangelo was sleeping on his back, hands and feet dangling down and his soft snores were barely audible. Leonardo was sleeping in Splinters lap, wrapped in a light blue blanket he had salvaged out of the mountain of other blankets and soft towels.

"I think we are caught up in the situation. Neither of us can move without waking up the small ones. And I really hope they will sleep longer! This whole day was such a hassle… Not to say that I didn`t enjoyed it." Splinter whispered. His long hands were stroking his two young ones, but his gaze was firmly set on Winter.

Winter herself tried to lean back against the couch, her legs were already stinging a little bit, but she nodded to the rat's words.

"I agree with you, but I never thought that kids would cause so much trouble… Thank everything I call holy, that the story helped put them to sleep. I can`t imagine what it was for you alone to take care of them. It must be hard sometimes…" Splinter nodded and sighed, images and mental videos rushing through his head.

"I have to admit, it is much easier now with help. When I had to leave them behind to gather food and other items I would always fear that they were gone when I came back, or that someone found them and took them away! They could even hurt themselves! I always tried to make my trips to the surface as short as possible."

Winter shivered as Splinters voice got hoarse, and she tried to imagine what it would be like for him, scavenge for food and every step would be accompanied by the fear of detection. It was a hard live, much harder than her ordinary one.

"That… That is hard… In comparison, my life is roses and sunshine…" she huffed and crossed her arms on her chest.

"And you do that the whole day? Looking for food, scavenge for something useful, try to get them to sleep? And you are all alone?" her voice was filled with awe and something else, Splinter couldn`t quite place.

"It is hard, but very fulfilling. It was a bit lonely, I am very glad that you aren`t afraid of me and that we can stay with you, for the time. Can I ask you a few more questions?" His head tilted to the side, but his gaze never wavered.

Winter nodded, subconsciously rubbing her left arm.

"Sure, what do you want to know? But I have to say, my life isn`t as hard or exciting as yours, I wouldn`t know what to tell you."

"I… I noticed that your hair is nearly white, your skin is pale and you have a very uncommon color of your eyes. Forgive me for asking but is that because of your German heritage?" his voice was curious, even when it was so quiet that she had to concentrate to hear him.

Self-consciously she brushed one of her hands over her hair, which reached to her elbows. Now, in the artificial light it shined silvery, underlining her bright blue eyes with the small red lines in it even more. Her skin, she knew, was far paler than normal human`s, it looked sickly.

"No, it is not because I am part German. It is… I am sick." His eyes widened at this simple sentence and he leaned forward as far as he could, pressing one of his hands against her forehead before she could even speak up again.

"Hmm you have no fever and your eyes seem clear to me. Your breathing isn`t ragged. You seem quite healthy to me." He murmured, his hand still pressing against her head, as her cheeks started to blush.

Winter leaned back, his hand dropping from her skin as she avoided eye contact with him.

"No, not like that. It is a genetically thing. I have albinism. That means that my skin is far more endangered by sunlight because I am so pale. My skin isn`t thick enough to protect me against the radiation from the sun. My whole body lacks pigments, which would normally give color to my skin, my hair and my eyes. I am lucky, if you believe me or not, my form of albinism isn`t the hardest form out there. Because of that, my hair is white, my skin is so pale and you can see the small red lines for blood in my eyes, which makes them look like some demons eyes."

Her voice trailed off and she still avoided eye contact with the giant rat, who was thinking about everything she told him. So she was different from others, in all his adventures on the surface, he never saw some other human, that looked like her. Would other humans be like rats? Rats would often kill other rats with different features. He had seen that times and times before in the sewers, where brown rats would kill the white ones, or some poor being with only three legs.

But maybe humans would be different about it, she didn`t looked harmed to him and he couldn`t smell blood, so this theory must be wrong.

"The other humans… Do they harm you for your illness?" his voice was coated with concern. Winter`s head shot up, her eyes wide as she stared at him with shock.

"NO! No, they don`t harm me. Some of them just don`t understand and make fun of me. But I am used to it! So, you don`t have to worry. Most times everyone treats me normally, but in school… they think I am just a freak."

"You are not a freak. You have a kind heart and a warm soul. Your behavior speaks more than words ever could! You are not afraid of me and my sons, you help us, shelter us, show us generosity. That is more than other humans would ever do for something like us. Don`t let them bring you down, because you are worth so much more, than any of this other NORMAL humans."

Winter blushed even more, the kind words and the blazing eyes fueling that reaction.

"I… Thank you, nobody told me this for a long time." She fidgeted with her hands and let her gaze drop to the two sleeping babies in her lap again. Donatello was still sucking on Raphael`s thumb.

"You are welcome. While we speak about other humans, where are your parents? You seem a bit young to live on your own!" his voice was, again, concerned and curious. Her whole apartment smelled just like her, food and now slightly of him and the little ones, not that he minded that.

"My parents live in Germany now and bought me this apartment. I could have gone with them, but I wanted to end my time of school here in New York. The school system in Germany is different from here and much more complicated, so I was really happy that I could stay. Once a month a social worker comes around to look if I am alright or if I need anything and my parents opened a bank account just for me. On the other hand, I am nearly 16, so I can live on my own. You don`t have to worry. I should ask you, if you are able to live alone!" her voice indicated that she wanted to tease him about the last part, so he chuckled.

"That is alright for me. In human terms I would be around 19." His grin widened as she started laughing.

"Could have fooled me with you fur, you can`t even see if you have wrinkles!"

"I resent that statement!"


	4. Exhausted

**Back again^^**

 **I couldn`t resist with this chapter, it was just too cute for its own good...**

 ***sigh***

 **I hope you like it as much as i do.**

 **TheLadyOfSouls: thank you ^^ i was hoping that the first shower scene would be cute to someone elseXD I can`t decie which series i will choose, there are amazing episodes in all of them and i really want to write about that with my little, cute Winter... But i tell you as fast as i know, ok?**

 **Lydja-chan: i really tried to bring something new to Splinter`s point of view, he was a pet, so somethings will never really change. And i thought about the aging of him in the series. I think he should age like a normal human, not like a rat, so he would be still young when he and the turles got mutated. I really love to write about his old habits, they will never really die. XD And i nearly died because aof AWWWWWWWWWWW at little Leo in here... Happened to me with my own little cousin so i can relate...**

 **Illusionna: I am sorry that i brought her albinism on in the first chapter, but never explained it further. But i thought the alley would be too dark for even a rat to pay attention to something like that. But he noticed and the PD probably too... I come from Germany, so it was only natural to give Winter that background story. Although it will explain her little spleens and hobbies, which will come later. One of this habits is in this chapter. XD**

 **LoveTurtles: Thank you, i really like that i can give a female to Splinter, he has earned that right, i think.**

 **Again, TMNT is not mine... *sigh again***

* * *

The first morning after the storm, Winter had to phone her school. Convincing her school`s secretary that she was ill was her best option and it only took her about 20 minutes to get the whole procedure through. The secretary, after a bad imitation of a hoarse throat, wished her a speedy recovery. With a sigh Winter dropped the phone on its base and turned back into the kitchen, where Splinter sat on a chair, sipping at his tea.

"Whew… This was really hard work. I never had to lie about something trivial like that. But it is for a friend, so it is ok, right?" her eyes travelled to the giant rat, her head was slightly tilted. Gently Splinter sat his cup of steaming tea down and cleared his throat.

"I would never expected you to lie for me. But… It is necessary at the moment, so I am very grateful for that. I had hoped that I would not leave the small ones alone, even if it is with you and I am pleased that you agreed to watch over them. I shall hurry, I promise you that, but I can`t tell when I will come back. I have to find out what happened to my old burrow, and I will try to fetch a few things that might have survived. If I am not back till 7 p.m. could you please leave your window to the alley open?" He stood, stretching his back and legs. He had been cramped in this apartment for too long, without any room to run or explore.

"I can do that for you, no worries! And I will take care of your small ones, I even have planned what I want to look with them on TV if they nag too much about everything else. So I have back-up-plans for my back-up-plans!" Winter pumped her fist in the air and took a step towards the table, but didn`t looked down to the ground and so she didn`t see the pink tail there, which she tripped over.

Her eyes widened in shock as her gaze met Splinter`s. She closed her eyes fast, not wanting to see the ground rushing to meet her, the pain would be enough for her.

A pair of soft but strong hands wrapped around her middle, stopping her mid-fall. After a quick breaths she opened her eyes, staring at the kitchen tile that was right in front of her.

"Maybe I should rethink my decision to leave the small ones alone with you…" Splinter`s voice literally dripped with sarcasm, and it brought Winter`s blood pressure nearly to the boiling point, not with anger but embarrassment.

"Normally, this doesn`t happen. Normally there is no giant talking rat with a long tail in my kitchen to trip me. You done this on purpose?" Her head turned to glare playfully at him and he could see her teeth.

He fought his natural instincts to hiss at her, answering her threat. SHE was not a rat, not even an animal, showing teeth was nothing like it was back when he was still a pet.

"I would never do that, Winter. It was purely an accident." He righted her and because of the tight fit in the kitchen, he had no other possibility as to get her nearer to himself to get her back on her own two feet. He could feel the warmth that was radiating from her even through his green robe she had given to him. His hands were still on her middle, feeling the softness of her flesh through her own clothes and he –

She took a step back from him, a pink hue dusting over her pale cheeks. Her hands brushed back her hair as she opened her kitchen window, which would lead to the small alley behind the building and to the next manhole.

"Please be safe, ok? Who knows what it`s like in the sewers now? The small ones need you. And I really don`t want to lose a friend, that I just recently got!" She gripped his arm at her last sentence, forcing his gaze to meet hers, which was full with concern and worry. Something warm spread inside of Splinter`s chest, causing his muzzle to twitch slightly and he wanted to bring his head closer to hers, but again, she was not a rat, she wouldn`t know the gesture.

"Do not worry, I will be careful. And I will come back… my friend." His hand wrapped around her forearm for a second, encasing it with warmth, before he jumped out of the window and down into the morning shadows, leaving her sight in seconds.

Huffing, Winter turned to her fridge, contemplating what would be the best for her small guests, which were still soundly asleep in her bedroom. (Splinter had slept on the couch, because he was so fragging tall and Winter had slept in the tub the last few nights.)

The children were still sleeping as Winter checked on them a few hours later. They were all cuddled together, forming something akin to a turtle pile on her bed.

It was now about 10 o`clock in the morning, the waffles for breakfast with mushy apples was ready for quite some time and her homework for the rest of the week had been done, too. Now all she could do was wait for the small ones to wake up and to not make many sounds. THAT left her with just a few options.

She left the door to her bedroom open, so she would be able to hear the sounds of the small ones and jogged in her place for a few minutes, slowly inching towards her living room. As she started to stretch her arms, she kicked away the pile of blankets, which were still on the floor, making space for her own needs.

Her bare feet glided over the carpet, taking their place for her first position. She arched her back, her arms hold over her head, clenching and unclenching them with the stretch. In the movement she got to her toes slowly, balancing every moment on the way up. She could feel her muscles in her back and the small ones in her calves.

Her arms came down again, still on her toes, her left leg rose up, her feet meeting her other knee, her hands met in front of her chest. Her breathing slowed and she focused all her thoughts on her slow, but controlled movements, a routine for her.

Her body seemed to walk itself through the different figures for balance and control, she tried to picture her energy as a swirling mass inside of her, which she pushed with her movements and pulled with her breaths.

Her feet were stepping up the rhythm she had found, her body twisting in movements she had learned years ago. Her pulse sped up, her skin warmed and her breathing was becoming more strained with each ending figure, which would fluently mix with the next one. Her arms were guiding her upper body, her legs were constantly bending and stretching again, her eyes were closed as she danced along the figures, listening to her grandmother's voice in her head.

She was near the end of her last figure as her ears caught a small giggle beside her.

Her concentration broke and her eyes snapped open, landing on a small, dark green turtle with blue eyes, who started clapping enthusiastically as he noticed her attention. His small legs were wiggling under him, indicating that he wanted to move, but his muscles wouldn`t budge. He stretched his hands for her, making grabbing motions and the universal `uppie`- motion.

"What – How long are you awake? Did I wake you?" Leonardo giggled again, but pouted at her, doing his gestures again. Winter bend down, cradling the turtle in her arms, as he wrapped his arms around her neck, burying his face at her throat. He sniffed at her and poked her shoulder, his grin turning slightly sour.

Winter paused and sniffed at her own arm, her nose crinkling as a gross smell invaded it. Her top was sweat through and her sweatpants were clinging to her legs. Her hair, which she couldn`t see, was probably a mess. An annoyed groan left her lips and her gaze dropped again to the small, again smiling, turtle baby in her arms.

His hands were investigating her bare skin, comparing it with his own. His small forehead creased in concentration. Soon his small fingers were pinching the back of her hand and he stared at it, at the pale skin and her fingers, her knuckles. Leonardo grabbed one of the fingers, turning it around for his inspection, pressing one of his own against it.

Winter chuckled slightly and a smile spread over her lips, as the young one was immersed in his studies, now bending her middle finger and bringing it nearer to his face, his small face was scrunched up and he sniffed at her skin again, before a laugh escaped his mouth and he bend forward, wrapping his mouth around her finger and started to suck at it slowly.

"What are you doing? You have your own fingers to suck on, you don`t need mine!" she tried to tug her hand away, but he only started to suck a little more forcefully, his eyes becoming fogged with unshed tears and Winter thought that he pouted.

"And now I can`t even get it back? You are hard to bargain with… Maybe I can trade it back?" she grinned at that idea and walked into the kitchen, the small turtle in one arm, while he was sucking her middle finger, one of his hands was wrapped around her abducted appendage and his other was clenching her top to steady himself. His curious eyes followed every movement of her as she sat down on her chair, then moving to the still slightly warm waffles.

His sucking stopped and he turned his head, looking at her with big eyes.

"You can only get waffles if you let go of my finger. You can only have one thing, you know?" she couldn`t help the teasing tone in her voice as she reached out to grab one of the small plates, breaking one part of the waffle and put it in her mouth. Leonardo`s eyes widened at that sight.

"Mhmmm, delicious. If only you could taste it too, but alas you are busy with other things. So, I can eat all this waffles myself and I will leave nothing for the small little turtles." The turtles face fell after a few seconds. His head swiveled to her face, then to the waffle and back again before he gently took her finger out of his mouth and sat it into his own lap. A small sigh escaped his lips as he leaned forward and took a hold of the plate.

"Winter 1: Leo 0."

The small turtles had woken shortly after Leo had finished his breakfast, demanding attention as well and they all were sat neatly in a row, eating and smearing the mush on themselves and their sitting neighbors, even poor Leo hadn`t escaped the onslaught of his brothers. This massacre was companied by laughter, whining, screaming and war cries. Winter hoped that her neighbors just thought, she would play some games with really loud music settings…

`At least, it seems that they enjoy my cooking skills. Sadly, I will now have to bath them all to get this mush off again. ` Winter groaned to herself as she stared at the four little turtles in front of her. She was just happy that she could easily wash the blankets and towels in which the turtles sat, and parts of their meal.

But to Winter, who was still in her sweaty clothes and a few feet away from the still playing babies, there was now one big problem.

She had to bath the turtles. She needed a shower, and to judge the looks Leo would sometimes throw at her, she needed it bad. But there was only one tub in her apartment and she couldn`t just leave the small ones alone and unsupervised…

The only solution…

"Well, I think we just have to suck it up and bath all together, it should fit with the 5 of us. And it won`t be embarrassing, because all of you are not going to remember that and I will never bring it up again!" her face got red and hot and she closed the mental door inside her head before her thoughts could wonder into the gutter out there, but she still cheered, catching the attention of the other 4 occupants.

"Come on, little turtles, we are going to get a bath all together." She cooed at them, grabbing Michelangelo and Raphael and lifting them both up. Donatello and Leonardo looked at each other as Winter started to walk slowly towards her bathroom, then both started whining as they struggled to follow their female caretaker.

She walked slower, so that the two crawling turtles could keep up with her the few meters to the bathroom. As soon as all of them were inside, she closed the door and sat Mikey and Raph down, who both grabbed onto her pants. All 4 were looking curiously at her as she turned on the warm water and sealed the tub. Soon it was filled enough for her to place all the little turtles inside.

Mikey was the first, as he had just thrown himself in her hands to get in the water first. Raph demanded to be the second one in and started to splash at his brother as soon as his little feet touched the liquid surface. Leo gave out a startled yelp as he was lifted in and was soon followed by Donatello, who was grinning widely.

All of them were fussing around, playing and gurgling happily as Winter slowly undressed herself and placed her clothes away to wash later. The water was warm against her skin as she entered the tub, kneeling down to get closer to the small gawking babies. They were all staring at her skin and Leo let out a smug sound, causing his brothers to hiss at him lowly.

Mikey was the first to approach her again, laughing, and soon latched onto her, pressing his still smeared face to her legs. Winter cupped his face with one hand and with the other tried to wipe away the grease in his face with a drenched cloth. He playfully tried to evade her attempts, nearly falling over a few times if Leo hadn`t sat against his shell as he was splashing around with Raph and Donnie.

Water was shooting around, not only in the tub was also out of it, landing on the tiled floor and even on the walls at the far end! Mikey joined his brothers as he was released and soon World War 3 had started in her own bathroom!

As she was cleaning Raph thoroughly a huge splash of water hit her face. Every sound stopped, it was deathly quiet. Her gaze wandered around, immediately landing on Donatello, who grinned sheepishly at her. A small, sadistic grin spread over her lips.

"You-are-on!" Winter growled and pushed against the water, sending a small tidal wave towards the amber eyes turtle, drenching him completely. Donatello was shocked, his little mouth opened in a way of protest before he spluttered as he swallowed some of the invading liquid. His brothers cheered as all of them turned against the female, splashing the water with everything they could. Arms, legs and even heads (Mikey) turned to tools just for the sake of coating her with lukewarm water.

After much screeching, whining, pleading for mercy and the end victory for the small turtles, Winter heaved herself out of the tub, her hair clinging to her skin and her eyes red from laughing and water invasion. With horror filled eyes she looked inside of the bathroom, everywhere were blotches of water, little puddles, the walls were sprinkled and the towels were wet as well. And the four turtles, which were now looking over the rim of the bathtub were laughing louder than ever. Their eyes were filled with a mischievous glint that send dread through Winter`s body.

"This will be such a strenuous day…"

Splinter entered the small, but now familiar, apartment through the same window he had left it. He paused in the kitchen, his nose twitching while he sniffed the air. It was filled with the smell of his younglings, food and a sweet underlining of lemon and raspberry.

His ears caught the sound of the TV playing in the living room.

His eyes landed on the table, where a small plate was, piled onto it was something yellow, worm like and it was covered with small balls of meat in a sweet-sour smelling red sauce. He presumed that this was his meal for the evening.

The clock on his left told him that it was shortly after eight in the evening, still too early for Winter to go to bed. Inhaling his food, he placed the plate down again and went to the origin of the noise.

The only light in the living room was coming from the TV, illuminating a scene that warmed his heart, burning itself into his memories. He slowly and carefully tiptoed to the couch, leaning over it to get a better look at the small pile there.

Winter was spread over the couch, her legs resting straight but her upper body twisted so she was on her side, facing the pillows, but with space between. Her hair was all over her face and the cushions, even over Mikey. A long shirt and a soft looking trouser covered her body. Small, fluffy, white socks were on her feet, keeping them warm.

Mikey was wrenched in this space, on his shell and slightly snoring, one of his hands clenching around a strand of white hair like it was a lifeline. Donnie was sleeping on her lap, his little face on the side of her knee, his warms wrapped around her left leg. His little mouth was opened and his tail was lazily wagging from one side to the other. Leonardo had tugged himself, face first, against her stomach, his feet pressed against Raph, who was snuggling against Winter`s upper chest area and who had his head neatly tugged against her throat.

All of them were sleeping soundly, not even twitching when something on TV exploded and people started to scream.

Splinter leaned down further, his head inches away from his younglings and his new friend. Carefully he sniffed at all of them, checking if everything was alright or if something had happened while he was away. His younglings smelled like innocence and happiness. All of their expressions, as far as he could see them, were light and content. Winter smelled exhausted and like she just had fought for hours. He could see some shadows under her eyes, which would surely leave when she got enough sleep.

He leaned back again, content with the result of his check-up.

Yawning he walked around the couch, getting on all 4 as he threw all the blankets on the ground into a pile again. He curled himself up on top of that pile, draping his tail along his body. His head faced the couch, so he would notice and wake up as soon as someone would move.

He would tell Winter and his son`s tomorrow about the old, abandoned subway station he had found.

* * *

 **Questions? Remarks? Invitations for a turtle hegemony? *chuckles***

 **i am really tired right now, but i wanted to finish this chapter...**

 **Cuteness overload on my side...**

 **Hope you will all dream of little turtles and their pranks^^**

 **Love ya all**


	5. Second hand

**Here i am again^^ Thanks for the reviews XD**

 **So, after this chapter the story will pick up a bit and Winter will go back to school. Yeah... (Note the sarcasm...)**

 **Is this ok?**

 **And i think i will let the turtles learn a few things in the next chapter XD**

 **Love you all^^**

* * *

„Wow… that is truly huge! And there are so many rooms here! You could easily give the small ones a room for their own and have still one or more for yourself!" Winter pivoted around herself, trying to take everything in at once. Splinter had showed her and the small ones the abandoned subway station he had found the night prior.

It was spacey enough, without any stairs which would lead to the surface. It had enough rooms for the small family's needs and in one, which looked like a small preparation and break room for workers, were even plugs for a fridge and an oven. One other room was a public bathroom, even equipped with a shower. The main room was big, small ticket booths at both ends of the space. A hole in one of the walls led to the sewers and that was the way Splinter had found the abandoned station.

The rat was guiding his sons around, in the middle of the main space while looking at his new female friend with wide eyes. The female was hurrying around, looking everywhere and inspecting everything. She laughed loudly to herself as she could access the water supply and it even turned warm after a few moments!

"You are a lucky rat, Splinter! This whole place must have been finished already before the city decided that it didn`t need this station! All the facilities for water are installed and when that's there, I bet that the facilities for electricity must be installed as well! And all over this place are suited with connectors for plugs." Winter strolled back to Splinter, a huge grin on her face.

"I… I don`t know what to make with all these. Don`t forget, I am a former rat and I might know a few things, but I don`t know about everything that is normal to you." He tilted his head while picking up Michelangelo, who tried to crawl away for his own inspection. Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael where sitting on the cold floor, looking between their father and their new caretaker.

"I will help you… Maybe we can find some things for down here, and you can have the blankets you used while staying with me. And until we find an oven for you, I will cook for you all."

"You don`t have to! You have done more than enough, and I found a few things already that were dear to me. And you have your own –"

"Hold it right there, Splinter! This is my decision, like the decision to help you and the small ones! And I will not back down now, I will not let you live here all alone, without a friend, with 4 little babies to look after! Your tales were already hard to listen to and now you want me to slip away again?" Her light blue eyes were blazing with fury and were staring down in his own. Splinter could nearly taste the sour touch to her smell now, indicating that she was indeed furious about his implications.

He did what every rat would do in his place. You can`t react any different, if it is a furious female rat or a furious female human. He backed down, his eyes downcast and his tail neatly wrapped around his young ones. He lowered down as much as he could, a submissive position, one that would hopefully help him in calming down the angry female.

Winter stared at him, the whole way down on his four paws, as his tail coiled around his sons. He had adverted his eyes, refusing to look at her. Her anger drained as he saw him react in such a way. She had forgotten, again, that he was a former animal. And as such he was far more feral, always sniffing around, his ears twitching and also reacting to her emotions.

 _`I am such a fool… I have to be more sensitive here.`_

"I… Sorry, Splinter. I am not really used to such sensitive persons as yourself. In my school there are more dorks and bullies as anything else. I try to get a hold of my emotions. But I really want to help you. So please, don`t push me away now…" her voice trailed off as her gaze dropped to the floor.

Following an instinct she got down on her knees and reached one hand to the still cowering rat, but not touching him. She could see his whiskers twitch as he turned his head. He observed her for a small moment, sniffing loudly at her before his muzzle gently touched her outstretched hand.

"I think I don`t have a choice in this matter. I will not push you away, how could I? You are my friend and the small ones already like you, too. Welcome to our lives!" he grinned at her as his small ones crawled forwards, climbing into her lap, or trying to, as there was not enough place for all of them.

Leonardo let his brothers escape the cold floor, even pushing his youngest brother as he struggled to climb for himself. He was now sitting beside her, shivering and pouting slightly. Winter giggled and grabbed the oldest turtle under his arm pits, lifting him up and cradled him against her chest. She cooed lowly at him and his brothers.

Splinter hurried away for a second, coming back with a small backpack filled to the rim. He opened it and revealed 4 colored blankets, not bigger than a pillow. The small turtles yelled and instantly moved about, reaching for their blankets but not wanting to move onto the cold floor again.

Smiling Splinter gave his oldest son the dark blue blanket with the hole on one of the edges. The red blanket with small burn marks on one side was grabbed by Raphael, who instantly rubbed his cheek against it. A purple blanket with small stains was given to Donatello and the last blanket in orange was instantly assaulted by small Michelangelo, who was crowing in triumph ignoring the three tears in it.

"What do you need, Splinter? I mean, the blankets took nearly the whole space in the bag. There can`t be much left." The rat nodded slowly and turned the bag around, so that two books fell out, one really old looking and the other used but newer.

"I have only this two books left. This one, I used to name the little ones and the other book is the only thing left from my Master." He indicated first the old book, `famous artists of the Renaissance` and then the other, without a name.

"Is this all?" The rat nodded and sighed. Winter looked around, still on her knees. The turtles would be warm enough this night with Splinter as a living heater and their small blankets.

"Maybe we should make a general list and I will look what I can get for you. Few things I should have at home, but other things will take longer." The rat nodded slowly and sat down in front of her, with his tail he drew her own smaller backpack closer to her and then got a hold of his oldest son.

Winter opened her bag, looking through it till she found her small notepad and a pencil. She looked around again and started to write, saying it out loud for Splinter to comment on. The list got longer and longer as both of them got a few ideas, the turtles fell asleep after half an hour.

* * *

The sun was almost setting as Winter finally got out the sewers and threw herself in the jungle that was the city. Even now hordes of people roamed the sidewalks, chatting, laughing and screaming with each other, some others were silent, just walking. The shops were still open for all the late workers, praising their goods.

Winter looked for a specific shop, which she knew was somewhere around the mainstreet but she had personally never been there. Splinter gave her the location of a good garbage dump, where she could find the most items they had listed, but Winter decided to try her luck first in a second hand shop. She hadn`t told him that, of course, he would have tried to diffuse the idea, but Winter just couldn`t imagine herself in this garbage dump, salvaging for items, she could buy for a few Dollar in a much better, if not new condition!

And now she had just found and entered the Second-Hand-Shop. Inside were wooden shelves, reaching the roof and filled with so many different things that she thought she would never see all of it. It wasn`t organized, or at least not in a sense that Winter would understand, it was like a maze to her, with an end she couldn`t see.

The shelves around her were filled with small toys, wooden and metal alike, books and smaller notepads, clothes that were neatly folded.

"Hello? Anybody there?" Winter looked behind the maze shelves but just saw other shelves. She could hear the rustling of clothing not too far away and then steps from, hopefully, a human being and not the Minotaurus from ancient times!

"Hello there! How can I help you?" A tall woman with fire red hair came around on of the shelves and smiled sweetly at Winter. She looked older, maybe in her early thirty's and her face showed small wrinkles around her eyes already. Winter instantly relaxed, the woman looked nice.

"Oh yes, please! I am looking for some items and maybe you could help me? I can`t seem to find it on my own." Winter rubbed her neck, embarrassed and a small smile grew on her lips.

"Sure, you are the only customer at the moment, so I would gladly help you. Do you have a list or something?" Winter nodded and produced the list out of her bag, showing it to the lady.

"That are quite a lot of things. I think we will need a basket, or two. Some of the objects on this list are rather heavy and others might be a bit too expensive. Do you have a limit?" The woman stared on the list and at Winter, sometimes scowling and then in the next moment she would grin again.

"Ah, yes. I can`t spend more than 50 Dollars today."

"I see. This won`t cut the half of all your wishes. We will just look through then. Do you have something in mind for today?"

"The cups for babies, blankets and pillows, lamps, maybe plates and dishes, toys and books. The items for babies would be important, at least more than the other things. And maybe a big trunk. A much bigger trunk, with rolls, so I can carry the mass of things."

"There are many things for infants and babies on your list, not just once but for four babies?" The woman stared at Winter again, a confused expression on her sweet face.

"Yes, three of my friends are planning a baby shower and one of them is pregnant with twins. So I need the most things four times…" her voice trailed off and she rubbed her neck again.

The woman in front of her blinked a few times and then smiled again, bigger this time.

"We will find the things you need, but I hope you have time. It will not be easy to find everything, this will be like a quest and you can tell the mothers-to-be about your adventures!" The woman cheered loudly and grabbed Winters wrist, tugging her along to unknown places in the labyrinth of confusion.

* * *

"Oh you have to be fucking kidding me, this shit load is heavier than a whale! At least the 50 bucks were enough for all of this. And I am very grateful that Splinter agreed to sleep one more night at my apartment and not down in the sewers!" Winter huffed as she tried to drag along the huge trunk she bought from the store. It was filled to nearly exploding, the nice lady from the store even had to sit on it, so Winter could close the zipper. And they only had to try three times until success. The Lady even gave her more items than Winter could afford, as a present and because nobody else had shown interest in it.

Winter let out a happy yell as she turned into the alley which would lead straight to her home, where she would have about an hour before Splinter and the small ones would come. So she struggled on, cursing and sighing along the whole way and as she finally reached the steps to her own apartment, she praised everything that her ancestors thought were holy. And in her case that led to thanking the spirits of old and the spirits of living beings.

She nearly cried as she reached out to open her door, her fingers brushing over the old wood and the small piece of pa-

Winter froze.

Her eyes travelled up slowly and focused on the small piece of paper, which was nailed into her door. It was simple and white with just a few words on it, in a deep red color. And it smells like booze and blood.

 _We won`t forget, we won`t forgive. PD_

Her hands were trembling as she ripped the note from her door, a small sob escaped from her lips. How had they found her? This was a more apartment house, so how could they know where exactly her apartment would be? How long was this note here? Would they attack now? Where –

Winter shook her head wildly, opening her door with her keys and nearly sprinting inside, the trunk rattling behind her. She pushed the door close again, staring through the small forming shadows as her shaking legs led her into her living room.

Everything looked fine to her, her windows were whole, the door was without scratches and even all her belongings were fine, so the Purple Dragons had never even stepped inside her home. But her fast breathing and her trembling hands and legs were not leaving her and she had only nearly an hour to prepare herself for her friends and his sons visit.

Winter crumpled the note in her hand and squeezed her eyes shut tight. She wouldn`t tell Splinter about this, he would only worry about her or do something, which would only get him in trouble and maybe get him hurt and she never wanted that to happen!

"I have to get myself together… I can`t let him notice… Maybe a shower will work." She breathed deeply a few times, trying to calm down again before she strode to her bathroom, dumping her clothes and the note in a corner, she would take care of that later, now she had to wash away the smell of fear on herself and the sweat she had lost when dragging the trunk. And she had to think about what to make for dinner.

* * *

"You got all those things for us?" Splinter stared at the female, his eyes wide and full of wonder. His hands grabbed the things in front of him, inspecting all of it.

"Yes, this is all for you and the small ones. I got 4 sippy-cups, all in different colors. A whole stack of blankets and towels for you all." She heaved a stack of mixed colors into his lap at this.

"I even got two pillows! And sheets for them! Also some dishes and forks to eat from, if we find an oven for you to cook at that is. Two mugs and a heater for water should help too, don`t you think? I found a rug, this fluffy blue thing Michelangelo tries to eat right now, for the bathroom! And I got you a fresh toothbrush, otherwise it would just be… I don`t even want to go there!" she shook herself with a disgusted expression on her face.

Splinter nearly choked as she nudged each item she mentioned and as she tugged the rug away from his youngest searching mouth.

"I even got some children books and small toys. I hope they will like them. I even found one of my favorites!" Proudly she held up a large book, with words on it which the Rat couldn`t read. The letters he could understand, but the words were lost on him.

"I can`t read that. What does it say?" Winter chuckled softly, stroking one of her delicate hands over the cover, which showed a wolf on the left side and a small maiden with a red cape on the right, both sitting in a field filled with flowers.

"That are the most loved tales from the brothers Grimm. They are very famous in Germany and nearly every child grows up with at least some of them. It is written in German, so I have to translate but this is just fine." Her smile was bright as she directed it at Splinter.

Behind her the babies were already playing with some of the toys. Little Leonardo was pushing a little ball with superheroes on it around. Raphael sucked on a small motorcycle and it`s driver. Donatello was busying himself with some blocks that he was stacking on each other, while little Michelangelo wrestled with a small dark brown teddy bear, which he tried to cuddle to death.

"And you found this all?" The Rat observed his friend, noticing the small flinch and instantly his ears flattened against his head and his brows drew together.

"I… I am… No. I went to a second hand shop to buy this things. I just couldn`t go to a dumpster to look through while I had enough money to buy you something!" The Rat stared at her, unblinking.

"Oh please, don`t look at me like that! I only wanted to help!" Splinter sighed lowly and sent her a disappointed look. Winter opened her mouth again, paused and shut it again, lowering her gaze to the floor.

Her scent changed slightly, her happiness was now tinged with a sour smell. She was sad and a bit angry, that he could smell. He tried to be stern to her, tried to stay angry, but as she lowered her head too and let her silvery bangs fall in her face he leaned forwards to her. His nose twitched as a slightly salty scent invaded it.

She was crying.

Slowly Splinter leaned in the last few inches, his cheek now pressing softly against hers. She froze as he started to rub his cheek on hers. He could feel the warmth from her increase and the sour tint to her smell changed to a sweeter one. He liked it.

And he knew now, that she liked it too.

* * *

 **I have to amke a small announcement here. I don?t know when the next chapter will be online. My exams are coming fast and i have to study for them, so my updates will take a while. But i try to update as often as i can.**

 **I am really sorry for all those break lines... I would like it better if it hadn`t had to do that.. Sorry again. Till the next time.**


	6. A friend

**I am back, with a chapter^^**

 **My first exam will be in three weeks, so this will probably the last in a month time or even longer... It sucks, i have so many things i want to write about, but no time at the moment...**

 **I hope you all like this chapter, maybe you even know who the friend is i gave Winter.**

 **And i really liked the interaction / fluff between Splinter and Winter XD**

 **Love ya all, don`t melt in this heat...**

* * *

Days turned to weeks. Weeks turned to months. In this time Winter helped Splinter in caring for his young ones or scavenging for some new items. Sometimes, to be precise more often than Splinter would like, she would go to the Second Hand Store again, buying things and helping out there, to gain a few extra Dollars. Splinter and his sons would come to visit and sleep over at her apartment a few times a week.

Winter loved that times, when she could relax with the babies and her furry friend, just talking or playing games, watching TV or showing Splinter how to cook so he could learn to do it by himself. But as the light outside would take longer to fade away, the visits were cut short, so she often had to climb down a manhole late at night before she could make her way to Splinter.

She was always anxious when she would come home from school, expecting her door to be opened with force or another note from the Purple Dragons, but there was nothing. Sometimes she would feel as if someone was watching her, but she never saw someone when she whipped around. The prickling feeling of being watched slowly started to follow her in her dreams, making her restless.

Soon the summer started and with it came the last exams and weeks of school. In that time Winter had barely the opportunity to visit the babies and Splinter, her day was filled with learning and working at the store. She even gave Splinter the reign over her kitchen, and regretted it instantly after her learning period was over as her eyes landed on the mess the rat had made. (Winter never knew that a pudding had it in it to be used as a hammer…)

The last week of school was one that Winter was looking forward to! It was supposed to be a cultural festival week, each class dedicated to another culture. Over the week the classes should prepare one event that will be presented at Friday. Everything was possible, from cooking over theater and dancing over typical sports or poetry. And so the spirits wished, there were several culture heritages in her class from which they could choose!

Spirits, she was excited! She didn`t think that her classmates would choose her heritage, but they had a boy from Africa, twins from Hawaii and a girl from Spain in her class. All of that backgrounds were interesting and exciting and Winter never passed the chance to learn new things!

The day had started very promising. The sun had been shining, no clouds were on the clear blue sky. Birds had been singing, in New York that was a wonder! And Winter had succeeded in making breakfast without spilling the first pancake over her blouse and her pants. All in all it was a very promising start for the day and her mood was high. But that didn't last long…

The sun was beating down more forcefully than Winter had expected and so she was slightly sweaty as she entered her school building. The air was disgusting, it nearly felt as she was swimming through it instead of just walking through. Her clothes started to cling to her body and she really wished that she had taken a towel with her, although she hadn`t sports classes today.

The hallways in her school were crowded with pupils and teachers, all of them pushing and grinding against each other. Winter shivered as sweaty body parts of others rubbed against her arms and chest, leaving her feeling dirtier than ever. Her mood dropped significantly.

She was glad that her way to her classroom wasn`t as long as it could had been and with a few muttered curses she slipped through the opened door, nearly jumping over to her seat in the back row and at the window. She was glad that the glass was tinted so her skin wouldn`t turn this ugly shade of red. The short exposure on the way to school had been enough to hurt her, giving a stinging sensation to her arms.

The chair beside her screeched as her table partner sat down heavily, slightly panting. A dark colored hand patted her on the shoulder, trailing along her arm, inspecting it carefully. Winter sighed and tilted her head at her friend, looking at him with annoyance. But the hand just travelled further to her wrist, lifting her hand up to the boy's face, who adjusted his glasses to get a closer look.

"Winter," he sighed mournfully "how often do I need to tell you, that you have to avoid direct sunlight? You should know better. Do you have your skin cream with you?" Winter tugged her arm back and a small smirk flew over her lips.

"Yes, Bax I have the cream with me. And I didn`t expect the sun to have so much power in the morning. It was a mistake on my side. But I was just so excited! Today we will choose the background and our event! And I just forgot about that. Don`t worry about me." She smiled at him, her eyes shut.

The boy beside her pushed his glasses up again, a soft red hue spreading over his dark skin and he coughed slightly, turning away to hide his embarrassment.

"I will always worry about you…" he murmured lowly.

"What did you say Bax? You were talking to your hands, I really couldn`t understand what you were saying."

"Ah… No, I didn`t say anything, you must have heard something else!" he waved his hands around frantically, the red hue now more prominent. Winter looked him over again, a small frown on her face. She leaned towards him, one of her hands extended. Her soft skin was now pressed against his forehead.

"Are you ok? You look a little feverish and red." The boy shook his head and took her hand from his forehead. Before Winter could say a single word the door to her classroom opened again and a middle-aged man with dark hair strode in, a small collection of booklets under his arm.

"Attention, class! You all know that today we will discuss a topic for our cultural event. At the end of last week we already spoke about different backgrounds of students of this class. Over the weekend I narrowed it down to the Hawaiian and the Spanish theme. They are easier to work with and more exotic and fascinating than the others, although I really don`t want to bad mouth any other cultures. So we will now vote which culture our event will cover. All in favor for Spain lift your hand now!"

A small part of the pupil lifted their hands, but neither Winter nor Bax were among them.

"All right. Seems like Hawaii is our winner. Nani and Temo please step in front of the class. You and your parents come from Hawaii, so you two will be responsible for the event. I will observe and judge all the input. And I will manage our budget."

As the two darker skinned pupil stood up and made their way to the front, Winter turned to one of her only friends in school, her eyes alight with glee and happiness because she knew that Nani was a dancer, just like her and Temo loved to cook with all his heart. This were two of her favorite pastimes and she already knew, that her day had brightened again!

"Bax! This will get so awesome! And I know that you can`t dance or cook, but fear not! I, my friend, will stand by your side and will guide you along the way! Together we will strive for perfection! You and me, my friend! And… all the others from our class, but that is not the point!" her fist was pumping the air furiously, her eyes glistening. A soft red hue dusted over her cheeks.

Bax stared at her, taking in how her whole posture changed from seemingly down to heaven in just a few seconds. Her voice was like the summer rain to him, refreshing after a long day. Since his first day at this institution he had always been near her, even if he only started talking to her after 2 years. And this had cost him all his courage and even then he didn`t think that he would have started a conversation with the snow haired female if it wasn`t for the fact that she had saved him from a few bullies!

And now, after a few years more, she promised to stay by him! (although just for the subject) For him, this was the sweetest promise anyone had ever gave to him! He could feel his own cheeks heat up and was, again, thankful of his darker skin color as he nodded and let his hand ruffle her long hair, to which she started pouting cutely.

"Thank you, Winter. I will always be by your side." Her smile was enough for him to throw his arms around her, wrapping her up in a gentle hug. Both ignored the snappy comments and whistles from around them.

* * *

The rest of the day was over in a flash, the discussion of what to do was relatively short. Since there were more females than males in her class and after Temo had offered to teach the Chaka, the warriors dance, the male population of her class had nodded the decision of dancing off, much to Winters happiness. To her side, Bax had paled and his head had hit the table rather loudly and she could hear his faint murmurs about dislocated joints and splintered bones. She had laughed about that, poking him slightly to get him out of his misery again to which he just reacted with a blush as she had tickled him a bit.

As every other day, Winter opened her windows facing the alley. The air was still warm and the sun was shining, but Winter didn`t mind that. Splinter had promised to come around with the small ones. The soft warm wind was soothing to her, easing away the pain from the sun, although Bax had tried to keep her under his umbrella to protect her.

Now Winter was standing in her living room again, slightly dancing along to a song the radio played, and looked over her list from classes today. She would have to wear a costume like the traditional dancers from Hawaii, if you could even call that a costume. It was a skirt out of fabrics, very colorful fabrics, better for New York than the older styled parts of plants from which the really old skirts are made of. And then there was the matching bra which could be matching in color or could be self-made from shells or coconuts. If you were not wearing the shells or coconut bras you would have to get a few shiny and flowery accessories to catch attention to that.

Her list included a color scheme as well, listing which colors were acceptable for her skirt and her bra and which were not. She and nearly every other girl had blushed as Nani had explained the parts of their costumes, not to say that the guys were not excited to see the girls with lesser clothes on. She had to convince herself that this wouldn`t be too bad, that she had danced in a similar fashion for her old school, as her grandmother had taught her some of her own dances, but it was still slightly embarrassing.

Winter didn`t think that she would find seashells or coconuts in her size, because of her slightly bigger than C-Cup, so she would have to opt for a shiny bra and accessories in a color of her liking. And flowers for her head and her ankles and wrists, a necklace out of tropical flower couldn`t hurt either and all of that should match in colors.

Her eyes wandered over her list of colors. She couldn`t use pale colors because of her own skin, than she would look more like a ghost than like a living being, but the few rich colors on her list weren`t for her liking. She would look disgusting in pink and yellow, and green would bite with her eyes. She could wear an ice blue, which would complement her eyes, but in which she would look like chalk. Or she could wear a shade of red, which would match her eyes, thanks to the small veins in it. The red color would highlight her hair and her skin wouldn`t look like that of a two days dead girl.

Maybe she could get some purple or light blue flowers and some gold accessories, that would make her outfit complete. Giddily she jumped from one feet to another and twirled around.

And crashed against a hard surface, which was hard, warm and soft feeling. Before she could fall over and hit the ground, hands grabbed her arms and tugged her against the surface, holding her close. All she could see was the green robe and small tufts of fur, his earthlike and musky scent infiltrated her nose. Unconsciously she leaned forward, into his warmth, her eyes closed slowly.

* * *

Splinter tilted his head, looking down at his small ones which were sitting obediently at his feet, their eyes alight with happiness. His tail wrapped around his small ones tightly as he climbed the ladder, shoving the manhole cover aside, after a few tentative sniffs. The air reeked of the usual mixture of car gases, rotting food, sweating people and the warm wind.

With fast movements he climbed out of the manhole, his tail already curled around one of his children, lifting the turtle to the surface. A quick look confirmed that the usual window was already opened. Little Donatello came into view, his small hands clamped down on his father's tail. Splinter snatched him into his arms and jumped to the window, leaning over the sill to set down the third oldest on the kitchen floor.

This treatment was repeated three times before he had all of his younglings in safety again. He shoved the manhole cover back in place, his ears twitching the whole time to look out for threats. But the alley was nearly never visited and today was the same. He closed the window behind him after climbing through, dully noting that only Leonardo sat where he had put him down on the floor. His other sons were already on their way through the small apartment, but he didn`t panicked as he would have a few weeks ago.

His female companion and he had tried to make the whole living space as baby friendly as possible, clearing all the tight spaces, tidying up all the books and pencils and shoes and everything else. All cables were safely tucked away and hidden, everything small enough for the babies to swallow was packed away. It had only taken them about 2 days at that time.

His keen ears caught the rustling of papers from the living room, indicating the whereabouts of his female friend. His nose twitched as he sniffed loudly, inhaling all the scents in the apartment, smelling his small ones and his friend but also a scent that was new to him, metal and oil and grease but it was faint in the kitchen. And it didn`t smell like the source of the smell was in here with them.

Splinter exhaled slowly, kneeling down to scoop up his eldest son, who instantly latched onto his robe with a big grin. He walked to the living room, noting that Michelangelo and Donatello were sitting in the bathroom door tugging at a small towel, their small grunting swallowed by the pink fabric. His eyes travelled over his surroundings, seeking out his last son, who had entered the bedroom and was sleeping on his back on the bed, snoring softly.

As soon as his feet crossed the threshold to the living room he sat down his eldest, who was speeding away instantly, crawling under the coffee table and shoving the small action-figure in his mouth. The smaller female at the table didn`t even notice his entering as it seemed, concentrating on the papers in front of her. The first thing that Splinter noticed was, that the new scent was coming from Winter, from her hair and parts of her shoulder. Underneath was her scent, this fresh and addicting scent which he and come to appreciate.

His eyes landed on her bare shoulders and arms which were slightly red and coated in something creamy. As he took another step forward the female began to wiggle around, giggling softly to herself and dropped the papers down on the table before jumping from one foot to the other. Splinter smiled at her antics and chuckled lowly, but even that was seemingly unheard by the female, which now whirled around and crashed into his chest. Before she could fall backwards his paws shot forward, grabbing onto her bare arms, cradling her against his chest so they both would not fall over from the force.

The new smell irritated his sensitive nose and he buried it in her soft silvery hair, deeply breathing her own scent. She felt tainted to him and he would not stand that. The smell which layered within hers was definitely male and his heart ached as that fact registered in his head. A small growl escaped his muzzle and his arms wrapped around the smaller female, who seemed to melt against him. He could feel her relax and sink against him, triggering his instincts.

The growl grew louder and he started to rub his head softly against her hair, chasing the other males scent away and trying to leave his own on her, to mark her as his own so that no other male would even dare to touch _his_ friend again. His tail wrapped around one of her legs, leaving even more of his scent on her. His mouth opened as he neared it the side of her throat and his teeth were nearly scrat-

He drew back slowly, his arms let go of her like they were burned. Winter stumbled slightly but caught herself, her eyes fluttered open and she stared at him, a small red hue dusting her cheeks. She cleared her throat and took a step back, her fingers twiddling.

"Winter, my friend, your skin is red. Did you expose yourself to the sunlight again without your lotion?" Her face reddened even more and she huffed. Her hands were pressed together.

"Splinter…" she whined "How can you even tell all that? Bax, a friend in school helped me with the lotion, so you don`t have to worry."

"How was school?" He grinned as a bright smile lit up her entire face.

"It was great! We decided about our school festival and what we will do about it. We will learn and present some dances from Hawaii, where two of our class come from. I am so excited about learning more dances! Today we learned the first few steps and discussed our costumes. Look here!" she bounced to her table, snatched up the papers there and bounced back to him, nearly shoving the papers in his face.

Splinter chuckled again and softly took the papers, his eyes falling on a picture of a very revealing costume and much skin. The fur on his back stood on edge as his mind started to compare the costume and the female in front of him. He could feel the soft mixture of a growl and a purr growing in his chest and it was hard, so hard for him to not let the sound go, to not let it show that –

"Splinter? I need those papers, please don`t wrinkle them! Is … is everything alright with you? You seem a bit flushed." Her soft, oh so soft and warm, hand was pressed against his forehead, slowly wandering to his neck. He dipped his head so that she could reach it, his mental eyes roving over Winter in _that_ costume.

"Hmm… everything seems fine. Maybe it is the heat.. I mean, you are covered with fur. I will get you and the boys something to drink, just wait for a second!" she strode after him in the kitchen and he just stood there, his gaze following her swinging steps.

"Yes, it must be the heat… Don`t worry. Ehm… you said that you learned the first few steps. Maybe you would want to show it to me?"

She started smiling so bright, her eyes alight with happiness and something else, he couldn`t name. Instead of a vocal answer she just nodded and nearly jumped over to the free area between couch and TV pressing a glass filled with Orange Juice in his paw. Splinter let himself fall on the couch, taking a sip from the cooled liquid.

"So you have to know, the dances from Hawaii are all about stories. You tell this stories with your body, more prominent you tell them with your hips as a woman, so I will focus more on my hip movements, even more as my grandmother showed me. The movements have to be fluent, like water, so would you kindly tell me if I move wrong?" Splinter could only nod, his mind filled with pictures of her.

"Fantastic! I really am thankful for your help! I really want to master this dance fast, because I have to help a friend of mine, Bax, to learn the male's warrior dance. But don`t worry, I will stop when your favorite soap opera starts." Splinters chest ached again, with warmth this time, as he tried to commit this moment to his memories. She was smiling, moving her hips in fluid movements, sometimes making mistakes and then starting over again, her eyes were sparkling. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see his sons, all 4, laughing and swinging with the rhythm of Winter`s movements, without music. But even so, this was one of the best evenings, he had in a long time.

And what made it even better, she smelled like him and was smiling, not complaining over his behavior from today, and she danced for him, entrancing him and his sons.


	7. I got a feeling

**I am back! After a horror time with exams i am back, and i aint nice in this chapter^^**

 **Please no flames because i will only use that to cook some soup, i am a bit ill... Shit weather here in Germany at the moment.**

 **But please read on, my dear readers^^**

 **Ah, TMNT is not mine... Wish it would be... But no...**

* * *

The last few days of school were over fast, the time was spend learning the dances and helping Bax dance without tearing some muscles or ligaments, cooking for Splinter and the babies and helping one more time in the second hand shop for a few dollars payment. The nice owner, a woman named Keira O`Neil had even promised her, that she could work in her shop for the whole summer break! That was a great relief for Winter, for her allowance for the month was, literally, eaten away by four small turtles, one mutated rat and herself. Her parents had called a few times, asking her to come to Germany for the weeks of her summer break, but she declined the offer.

Her last day of school, the last day of the festival was filled with so much to do, that she was constantly moving. Helping with decorations here, filling balloons with air in the other room, mending a ripped skirt in the bathroom, helping a younger child find his parents again and delivering a few baked goods was just what she would remember later.

But all of this ended as her class got on their stage in one of the bigger gym halls. It was eerily quiet as all of the females stepped forward, their skirts brushing against their neighbor ones, sounding like palm leaves in the wind. It was a colorful display of coconut shells, tropical flowers, glittering bracelets and a rainbow of different sizes and colors of bras. Winter, with her red bra stood among the other red, orange or yellow colored bras females on the left side of the stage, their movements slow but powerful, their hips flowing like water, rustling the skirts fabrics in synchrony. Their hands and arms moved over their heads slowly, waving and weaving around, the light glinted of the accessory, catching the attention of the onlookers, mostly men let me tell you, causing them to stop and just stare at the moving bodies of the females. The whole dance lasted for about 10 minutes, minutes filled with harsher getting breaths, sweat rolling down the arms and then it all ended in a thundering applause while the women sank down on their knees, arms and pointing to the sky, heads bowed and eyes closed.

The lights faded away and in that time the females switched with the male students, the music changed and the lights turned on again, shining brightly on the oily bodies, only clothed in a deep green colored loincloth. The chaka, the war dance of some old cultures, consisted of stomps, slaps to the legs and generally aggressive movements, it was like getting your blood boiling from just dancing and shouting. Winter waited in the shadow of the stage, her eyes never leaving the, sometimes stumbling, form of her dark skinned friend Baxter, who was in the last row of males, struggling to remember all the moves Winter had beaten into him. The males dance lasted for just 5 minutes and it ended with a deafening roar aimed at the onlookers. This group also got thundering applause, maybe not as loud as the females, but loud nonetheless.

Baxter stumbled from the stage, grabbing onto his friend to stabilize himself, he was wheezing and his body was still oily and he felt just downright stupid and gross. He wanted a shower, badly, and something to eat and a big coke to boot. He could feel Winter grabbing one of his arms and then her fingers trailing down his skin till she reached his own hand, opening it to press something in his grip.

It was his glasses, he had danced without them and Winter had ahold of them while he had made a fool out of himself, now giving it back to him.

"You were great, Bax! You did make a few mistakes, but there were some boys who didn`t even learn the whole choreography. I am very proud of you!" She smiled at him, this brilliant smile which he would in all eternity compare to the brilliance of moonlight. (He would compare it to the sun, but because of Winters albinism this would just be unfair, don`t you think?)

"You don`t have to lie to me.. I was awful. This whole dancing business isn`t something for me, it is better suited for you. I was mesmerized by your dancing, all the others couldn`t even compare! I would really like it, if I could buy a copy." The female in front of him laughed and a red hue dusted over her cheeks. She shuffled her feet, blinking slightly before her head shot up again and she gasped.

"Oh no! There are limited copies! I want one, too! Listen, you get yourself in normal clothes again and I will run to buy us two the copies! I will meet with you at the food stalls from the eighth grade!" he hadn`t time to say something to her before she whipped around, her skirt flowing around her, and started running or more like skipping through the crowd to their own merchandise stall. She was still in her costume and Bax couldn`t keep his eyes from her bare skin, wandering down to her buttocks, lingering there for a few seconds before his breath hitched.

A certain warmth started to pool in his lower stomach and he abruptly turned away, speedwalking out of the room, his hands shielding a certain area of his body as he made haste to the bathroom next door before someone could make jokes about his momentary condition. Winter would wait for him, she was such a sweetheart, always looking out for him since they first met. And sometimes he felt bad about some of his thoughts, like now. He sat himself down in one of the closets and locked the door. His head lolled back and he pushed his bag, which he had snapped on his way out of the classroom, between his legs. One hand wandered slowly to his loincloth and his eyes were tight shut. He felt save here, outside was just too loud from the festival, so the chances that someone would see him like this were next to none.

* * *

Winter danced through the classroom, two copies of their festival recordings pressed against her chest to secure it. A bright smile was adorning her face while dancing around people to not run them all over. It had her taken longer as expected, but there was such a long que that she had to stand behind before she was able to buy the desired recordings.

Now she was waiting, jumping from one foot to the other, as the delicious smells from the various food stalls entered her nose and made her mouth water. She could smell bacon and fish through all of this and everything was just so colorful that it nearly hurt her eyes. But she had promised to wait here for Bax and he still wasn`t here. So she would have to wait longer until she could get something to eat, her stomach grumbled even louder at her thoughts.

"Bax, where are you?" she sighed loudly. "I am hungry!"

"Calm down, calm down. Stop whining so loudly, I think that the next classrooms wouldn`t have heard you." The dark skinned boy, now in his normal clothing, was slowly coming towards her, a grin adorning his features.

"But, Bax! I am hungry… Oh, and here is your recording of the whole festival, it will definitely be a great reminder for the rest of our lives, don`t you think?" Winter shuffled her feet, a red hue over her cheeks for just a moment before she pressed one of the copies in her friend's hands, after that stuffing her own in her small backpack. Baxter wasn`t sure why she had blushed, probably out of embarrassment from her loudly growling stomach. It was a reason for her blushing every time the silver haired girl would get hungry. Her stomach could growl as loud as a starting plane!

"Why didn`t you change your clothes?"

"I thought I hadn't got the time, so I ran straight here and waited for you, but you took longer than I anticipated… but that is not so bad, but now I am just so hungry…" Her friend nodded, a guilty expression on his face. He grabbed her, now free, hand and tugged her along with him, along the different food stalls.

"I am sorry for your wait, for that I will buy you lunch. What do you want to eat?" Winter pressed one of her fingers to her lips, deep in thought as they walked by. Italian, hot dogs, crepes, waffles, smoked salmon, meatballs and so much more food was just waiting for her, the delicious smells invading her nose and torturing her slowly. Her stomach growled loudly demanding to be fed, soon.

"I think I would like to have some Pizza, with salami and onions and maybe some fresh cheese on top of it, and double cheese regular. Do you think that is all right? Or am I too expensive right now? I really don`t want to burden you." She murmured, head held low and her voice thin. Baxter looked back at her while nor standing still, she was biting on her lower lip now, her eyes big and round and pleading. He sighed, patting his stomach.

"It is alright, I am quite hungry as well. But I don`t think we can get your pizza here. We could go to the pizza place right next block. It should also be quieter there and we could just talk."

"Talking in general or do you have anything specific?" Winter shouldered her backpack, following calmly after her friend. Her head was tilted to the side, her locks falling straight over her chest where the light was now shining over, the glinting mesmerizing the dark skinned boy.

"Ah… I thought that we could talk about…" His throat was constricting, like a snake was wrapped around it, limiting his breathing. Sweat was covering his forehead now as his brain tried to catch up with his heart. But he just couldn`t talk about _that_ now. Not now, maybe not ever.

"Next year… is our last year of school. And we have to choose a few new subjects. I wanted to know what you would like to choose and if, maybe, we had a few classes in common. I would like to spend more time with you… in school I mean, we are an invincible team in team assignments and I really don`t want to lose my friend." His last few words were rushed and he knew he was rambling, trying to cover up his slip while speaking. But the naïve albino behind him just chuckled, most likely not understanding what his heart wanted to tell her.

Winter nodded repeatedly, a smile on her lips. She stopped at the bathroom door for females. Her hand lingered for a second on the wooden frame before slowly pushing it open. Her eyes, clouded with thoughts, soon focused on Baxter again.

"That would be nice. I really love our times together so I would love to have a few subjects with you. And there are quite a few subjects to choose from. I have a list in my bag, so we can talk about it while eating! That is a really good idea, Bax. Nobody will beat our tag team, believe me!" She laughed loudly, her whole body shaking from it.

"Where are you going? I thought you didn`t like the toilets at school?"

"Duh! I have to change my outfit! Or do you want me to walk around in this bra and skirt for the whole time we are out? I would like to wear my clothes, so the sun will not burn my skin. This would be most uncomfortable!" she opened the door, still laughing and vanished from Baxter's sight. He could feel his face becoming hotter again. He was such an idiot sometimes…

* * *

Slowly Winter closed her door behind her with her feet, her arms full with a big carton of Pizza. Her favorite, just like she described to Bax and it was still steaming. She hummed loudly as she let the last few hours review in her mind. Bax and her had talked for two hours, laughing an making plans for the next year of school. They had agreed on two shared subjects before Baxters mother called in, demanding that her son would come home NOW or else she would confiscate his books for a week. After Bax left the Pizzeria she had ordered another one for Splinter and the babies and maybe just one more slice for her. Spirits, she really loved this pizza.

She chuckled lowly to herself, balancing the carton to the kitchen to place it upon the table. A little bit of steam escaped the warm carton, engulfing her in the delicious smell and causing her mouth to water, again.

"I really have to lay back on the pizza. Soon I won`t be able to move anymore because I will get so fat and round. More sport is in order if I want to keep my eating habits like this. Maybe it would be better to just eat more salad… But it is so tasty… Maybe if I get just one more slice before Splinter and the turtles will be-" she choked on the last word, her breath leaving her lungs in a rush. Her eyes had landed on her window in the kitchen, the one that lead to the alley. She knew that she had closed it when she left this morning, but now, it was agape. The wooden frame was dented and scratched at one point, more on the outside than insides. A shiver went down her back, the little hairs at the back of her neck were standing and her eyes were even wider than the full moon.

Her backpack landed with a thump on her floor as she rushed over, looking over her window for more damage. She opened it fully to look out, after seeing no more damage, her eyes locked instantly on a dark blue fabric, laying on a dumpster nearby. She swallowed hardly.

Slowly she turned around and started walking into the hallway. The door to her bedroom was stilled closed and she could see nothing amiss in her living room. A source of light came from the last room available. The wooden door was opened. She swallowed harshly and let her feet drag her to her bathroom, shivering from fear and anticipation. She walked into a battlefield, her chest for her dirty clothes was pushed over, all of her clothes strewn around her bathroom, partly ripped apart. A sob escaped her throat as she got to her knees, grabbing the remains of a dark blouse.

"Fuck it… Why now? What do they want? Shit!" she cursed, pressing the torn fabric against her eyes, trying desperately not to cry, as if the pressure could stem the liquid that already pooled in her eyes.

The creaking sound of the window caught her attention again and she froze, heart pounding harshly in her chest. For a few seconds everything was silent, except for her labored breathing and the rustling of the fabric in her hands. Maybe it was just the wind rattling the window frame or it could be a stray cat climbing around on the fire escape. Winter shot to her feet, she could hear someone moving around her apartment! Her hopes of something trivial were shattered.

Were the thieves coming back? Would they hurt her? Screaming wouldn`t be successful, her neighbors were away on holidays and the persons upstairs didn`t care about the world in general. Splinter was supposed to get here in a few hours, he wouldn`t get here till the sun would went down!

She had to do something!

Furiously she looked around for something to defend herself with, her eyes roaming over shampoo, conditioner and towels and lastly landing on her broom in the corner. She grabbed it, rising it up and holding it like a baseball bat as she positioned herself behind the door, shivering and waiting as the steps drew closer.

The steps were slowly coming nearer, as if the intruder was thinking about every step, or maybe he/she was injured because the faint noise of something dragging reached her ears as well. Her breathing was racked, her blood pumping through her veins, black dots dancing through her line of sight.

The steps stopped in front of the bathroom door, Winter tensed, her heart nearly topping as the intruder opened the door so slowly that she thought she would snap like a twig from the fear. Her door creaked loudly, covering up her hitching breath. A figure, illuminated from the hall lights, casted a shadow into the bathroom, it was huge! Shadowy hands reached forward, she could hear the nails on the wood and the mysterious figure shuffled forwards, blocking the only way out of the room.

Winter stood frozen behind the door, broom-bat raised high. The man, no woman could have that build without inhaling testosterone, stepped fully into the room, his back to her. His head was tilted forward, exposing his neck.

She seized this opportunity and with a war cry struck down with her broom-bat, aiming for the neck of the intruder. The man whirled around, meeting her wooden broom with his large hands, clamping down on the wood and in just a heartbeat he had wrestled the impromptu weapon out of her hands, had grabbed her arm and spun her around. His hands felt funny on her bare skin as the man pushed her hard. All of this was happening in just one movement! Her vision was filled with the wooden frame of the door and the last things she noticed was a firmer getting grip on her arm, black dots in front of her eyes and a crunching noise as her head met the frame.

Then everything went black around her.

* * *

All day long Splinter had a very bad feeling, his insides felt like they would transform into a knot with every movement he did. And he had to move a lot.

Michelangelo found it funny to hunt Raphael's tail while Raphael was busy chasing his little Motorcycle toy which Winter had bought for him in the second hand shop. Meanwhile Donatello and Leonardo were busy rolling a ball between the two of them. Splinter had tried to keep his small ones busy for the whole day and he had barely managed to do that. In some weird magical sense they seemed to evolve over the time they all had spent with the female, all four babies would miraculously know when they would all travel through the underground and to Winters apartment, and every time they knew, they would be so bend on getting there early that even Leonardo would throw a temper tantrum if he suspected that they would be late!

But today, today was even more stressing for the giant rat. His babies had fussed over everything, breakfast, bath time, when Splinter trained with the old book from his Master Yoshi, lunch, play time and even know, while Splinter donned his deep green robe over his furred body he could hear one of his sons start to whine loudly, from the pitch of the voice it was Donatello, who rarely fussed over anything.

Splinter finished with his clothing and turned around to get to his sons and get their way of transportation through the tunnels. Winter and he had found a smaller cart a few weeks ago, and they had spend some time while working on it, making the cart more comfortable for the small ones. Winter had even bought some small pillows for the cart and they kept a big, fluffy blanket in it for protection. The cart was placed besides the entrance/exit of their lair and as soon as Splinter could take a step in its direction his sons flocked around the cart, whining loudly and sniffling at him. Splinters eyes wondered to the old clock on the wall, another item his female companion had bought for him. It was still two hours too early to walk to her, to meet Winter, the sun would still be out, they could be seen far too easily.

"Not yet, my sons. We still have to wait for the time is not right now. We would get seen and then we wouldn't be able to visit Winter anymore. And we wouldn`t want that, would we now?" but even as he said that his insides felt like snakes, coiling around themselves. Something was just not right and he wasn`t the only one to feel it. His sons were clinging to the cart, sniffling loudly and in Michelangelo's case crying his big blue eyes out. Splinter got to his knees, slowly stroking over his sons heads, sniffing the air while he did that. His sons smelled of fear and anxiety and it made his skin crawl and his fur standing like from a thunderstorm.

A small green hand clumsily grabbed his paw, tugging it harshly to get attention. Raphael had his paw, while holding onto the cart with his other hand, he was making whimpering sound and tugging all the while. Splinter thought for a few seconds, one paw pressed on his own middle where his insides imitated a bunch of snakes or worms. His gut feeling was nearly always right and now wouldn`t be the time he would just ignore it. Every time he would think about Winter, the pain in his stomach would increase for a few moments, so maybe his gut feeling tried to tell him something about his female companion!

Making up his mind he grabbed his, still tugging, son around his middle, depositing him in the cart, his three other brothers following soon after. His four sons hunkered down under the blue blanket, crouching low so nobody would be able to see inside. Splinter checked the disguise shortly before walking around and opening the door to his lair, grabbing the handle of the cart and pulled it along, faster and faster, till he was nearly running along the tunnels, his grip steady and his heart pumping harshly. It took a fifth of his normal time to get to the right manhole.

He shushed his younglings, who were still hunkered down, all of them silently watching him, their eyes begging and wide as if to urge him on to do something.

"You must stay here! I will come back as soon as I can. I will look around first! So stay down and keep quiet! Alright? Do you understand?" he waited for a breath, observing his babies reactions. Donatello and Leonardo clamped their pudgy hands over the youngest mouth while Raphael crossed his arms over his chest. Splinter nodded and scaled up the old ladder, heaving the manhole aside, sniffing the outside air, as he couldn`t smell something different he slipped through, racing for the window he would need to get through, his paws reached for the clos-

He froze. The window was open, even hanging out of its hinges, this was so not normal! He could see scratches on the outside frame, like somebody had tried to annul the window away. His nose twitched and he crouched low, his ears pinned flat against his head. Something strong filled his nose, like booze and iron and salt mixed with a cold, scaly scent that send his hairs and his nerves straight on edge. A low growl started in his throat and he crawled into the apartment. He landed silently on his paws, his tail swishing softly over the ground. Instincts took over as he walked forwards on all fours, his muzzle never still, his pawpads feeling in front of him for dangerous ground. It took him minutes to just leave the kitchen, all his senses stretched as far as he could get them.

It was eerily quiet in the apartment, the only thing he could hear was the clock from the kitchen and very faint the sounds from out of the apartment itself. His nose lead him fast to the hallway, his head swiveling around to check the doors, bedroom door was still closed, living room smelled unused and clean. The tainted smell was stronger now as his head turned towards the bathroom, where the door was a bit ajar. His growling got louder and even a small hiss escaped between his teeth. He fast crawled to the door, his claws scraping over the floor, leaving faint traces. That was till a new scent caught in his nose. The iron and salt tinged scent got even stronger – blood, and it came from inside the bathroom.

Splinter rushed forward now, slamming the door open in his hurry. The bathroom was a battlefield. Towels ripped apart, like a few pieces of clothing, bath products were strewn around like ragdolls. And a path out of red dribbles, the origin from the blood scent, was on the doorframe. He could smell Winter from this blood and his growling got even louder!

Someone had hurt Winter! Someone had spilled her blood!

But where was she now?

Splinter turned around again, his eyes roaming over everything, every piece of fabric, over the wooden door and over the piece of paper and another piece of fabric that were both pinned with a dagger into the door.

Splinter nearly jumped to it, ripping the paper free, while his other hand collected the fabric. It was one of Winters T-shirts and it smelled like she wore it today! His attention switched to the piece of paper in his paw.

 _We have your human pet._

 _Central Park, Lake, south side._

 _Tonight._

 _Bring your spawn._

* * *

 **Please dont kill me now! But my plot comes rolling in like a weight train here^^ (Can i say that like this... I don`t care...)**

 **Till next time XD**


	8. Rescue

**Back again from the hell that is called University^^**

 **I hope you will still read my works^^**

 **And i hope you like this chapter.**

 **I am sorry for the butchered fight-scene, but i really can`t write something like this...**

 **I am sorry.**

 **The poem is not mine, it belongs to a game i really like and i thought the prayer is really fitting for my story and for Winters believe^^**

 **And i have personal history with concussions, so i know what i am talking about T-T**

* * *

Her head hurt. Not just hurt, but it felt like an imp was sitting just under her bones, scratching a rusty pitchfork over her brain, with the sensitivity of a whole bunch of kindergarten kids.

She wanted it to stop, really, really wanted it to end, because every thought was pure torture to her!

The constant movements didn't really made it any better.

Wait... Movement?

Winter tried to think beyond her head, tried to lift her hands or twitch her arms but her body wouldn't budge. It took her over 5 minutes, or was it hours? Her sense for time was shot too, with her ability to think in general.

Never mind, it took her over 5 minutes (or whatever) to just open her eyes a bit. It was just so frustrating! And her thoughts hurt and tried to wander in different directions.

Maybe her headache was more severe?

As she finally opened her eyes fully, she couldn't really understand what she was looking at.

It was dark, nearly black and it moved. Something yellow – no, blonde, was swishing from one side to the other, eliciting sounds from it`s way over the dark cloth.

Winter felt agonized, her brain was still in slow mode, working through information like a snail in a derby race. Mhmm... She really loved horses and maybe she should go to a – WAIT! Her thoughts were wandering again! Back to topic!

The blonde thing had to be hair, so the cloth must be clothes and someone had to wear this clothes, so this someone had to be carrying her, right? But why did it feel like she was located on a hard surface? It felt like she was lying on a rock or something equally hard, a diamond maybe? No, diamonds couldn't walk but neither could rocks, so why...

But that she was carried would explain her nausea right about now, or was that in line with her head? Speaking of which, it felt like the Chinese circus was acting out the spring time festival, with fireworks and explosives and real dragons!

And why would she needed to be carried around? She had two good looking and good working feet, she could walk on her own! And why did it feel like there was something raw bound around her wrists? And why were her hands on her back? This position was really uncomfortable. It hurt her shoulders, but worst of felt still her head.

Why did her head even hurt?

Was that the reason she was carried and bound? To not just move around and touch her head so that she wouldn't make it any worse?

That was a sound explanation, so far as her brain could follow the line of thoughts.

On to the next problem, before her head decided to wander off with the imp and the Chinese circus.

Winter felt cold, not just cold but freezing and it was just her upper body, not her legs or her waist.

Didn't she had a shirt on just this morning? After the dance, she had donned her shirt once more, she knew that. And she knew that she purchased a pizza, because Splinter and the turtles would visit this evening.

Evening?

But it was dark now and cold.

Didn't that mean, that she was outside right now?

And was the pizza now cold?

And where was Splinter? Shouldn't he be here?

Shouldn't he carry her instead this mountain of a man?

Thinking was getting harder again and the black spots dancing in the corner of her eyes were very distracting. And she was really tired all of a sudden.

Sleeping shouldn't be the problem right about now, right? She couldn't really move anyway and maybe the big man was getting her to a hospital?

It would be better if she just stopped thinking now.

Her eyes closed again, even before the black spots could grow any bigger.

For a second she thought that soft, long fingers with claws at the end were caressing her face, stroking once over her hair.

Oblivion gladly claimed her.

* * *

"Hush small ones. You must be silent. I will be back soon, don`t leave this room. I am very serious right now." Splinter stared down at the 4 small turtles in front of him, all of them were looking at him with varying expressions.

Donatello was sucking his little finger, his brows drawn together. He looked serious and was fighting with his tears.

Raphael sat there, sniffling lowly to himself, while one of his pudgy hands were gripping his oldest brothers arm. He looked despaired and lonely.

Michelangelo was outright wailing, although very quiet. Snot and tears were running down his cheeks. His eyes were overflowing with wetness and he looked like someone had just declared he would go to an orphanage.

Lastly Leonardo, he was the bravest at this moment. He swallowed hard a few times before patting Raphaels shell. He nodded to his father and tried to bring the pillows closer to them.

Splinter had sat down the small ones in front of the bed and pushed them under it, after pillowing the floor with a few soft blankets and pillows. Every side was stuffed with pillows, so that there was no chance to see the turtles if someone else would come looking in here. Splinter had even barricaded the frontdoor with the bookshelf.

After he got his rage under control, he had snatched the last small green towels and tried to fold them, like paper in origami. It should just resemble the turtles in their chest, he would never take them with him, they could get hurt, or worse.

It was enough that his friend, his Winter, was captured by this hideous brutes that tried to hurt him and his sons. And now they had dared to injure his Winter, he could still smell the blood from the bathroom. The smell alone was driving him mad and he could feel the growl vibrate in his chest.

Not long any more and he would be on his way, he would save his friend and make these brutes pay! His master would be ashamed when he wouldn`t save his friend, his Winter.

He looked outside the bedroom window, it was already dark outside and he would have to go soon. He growled again lowly and got down to his paws, his head swivelling around to nuzzle each of his small ones before pushing them under the bed.

"Stay. I will come back later. I will get Winter back. You will not make a sound while I am away. And now, hush." Splinter tucked another blanket down and in front of his younglings, obscuring them from view.

Splinter had just gone to the door before the shuffling of fabric stopped him short. He looked over his shoulder to the bed and could see tiny fingers lift one of the edges. A freckled face and blue eyes stared at him and he could hear sniffling again.

"Dada?"

Splinter froze. His eyes widened, his muzzle twitched.

"Yes, young one?"

"Mama?"

The giant rat chuckled lowly, his tail swished once and deep inside his chest, something warm was spreading and it felt good. His younglings were worrying about his human friend. He felt satisfied.

"No worries, I will get Mama back."

Without looking back again, he closed the door and jumped out of the kitchen window. He even closed the window again as good as he could. He would have to hurry to get to the meeting place in time and it would take longer because he had to take the chest with the fake towel-turtles with him. He could only hope that his trick would last long enough to get Winter to safety again and that the Purple Dragons wouldn`t chase him. He would have to hurt them enough to stall them, then he would get Winter home again, would have her call the police and then would hide himself and his small ones as long as the police would stay in her apartment.

He wouldn`t let her out of his eyes again, she was his...

He would never let her get hurt again!

* * *

There were no movements any more.

It was all still around her, it was quiet.

She could see the stars right in front of her, they were beautiful.

(Deep inside her head, she knew that she should be happy, because you couldn`t see the stars every night.)

Her headache had gotten stronger, it was pounding and she could feel it thrum behind her eyes.

The mountain of a man had set her down finally, after she was sick all over his back. He had screamed at her and she could understand that.

Nobody would be happy to get barf all over their clothes.

She wanted to say sorry to him, but her tongue was very heavy.

Others had screamed at her too, had shook her and then let her fall into the soft grass.

Her head had been worse since that. Maybe something was wrong with it?

The stars were blinking slowly, detached from all the worries and problems of the world.

The grass under her was very soft and it felt like a caressing to her bare skin.

She was even colder now, the wind was constantly brushing over her stomach, making goosebumps race over her arms.

Not far away Winter could hear the soft noises of water washing up to a shore.

She loved water, she loved swimming and the noises were making her sleepy again.

Her eyes were slowly closing again, she was so sleepy.

(Behind the sluggish thoughts, something was screaming at her to not just go to sleep, to stay awake because if she would sleep now, the chances were good that she would not wake up again! Concussions were not fun!)

The big man with blonde hair was leaning over her again, poking her with his feet in her ribs.

It hurt.

She could see that his mouth was moving but it took her a while to register what he was saying. His words reached her ears like syrup.

"Where is the rat?" he spat at her. What rat? Rats were all over the city and it was a chinese zodiac if Winter thought right about it.

"I ask again! WHERE is the RAT?!" he was getting louder, it was not very nice. And again he was poking her with his shoes in the ribs.

It hurt more than the last time.

Why did he have to hurt her?

She didn`t know about rats, just what she had read about them.

Why had she read about rats? Was she forgetting something?

The blonde man above her scrunched up his face and shook his fist at her, he looked enraged.

He fell to his knees beside her, still shouting at her, but she couldn`t hear him any more.

He shook her, hard. Her pounding head was getting heavier.

"Where are the turtles and the rat?!" he shook her again, her head was just rolling with the movements, she felt nauseas again.

Turtles? Rats? Why would he...

Oh...

Oh!

She could see pictures in her mind.

 _A giant rat was sitting on her floor, four small green turtles were curled up against him. His warm eyes were boring into her soul._

 _She was holding a turtle up, so he could stand. Green eyes were fixated on her and brimming with excitement. She could hear laughter and music in the background. The green-eyed turtle was stamping his little feet in rhythm with the music, holding her hands._

 _She woke up in the middle of the night. Didn`t she fell asleep on her floor? Why was she on the couch? And why was it so warm? Her eyes wandered up and up till they landed on a soft, brown furred chest. Splinter... She was lying on his chest, his arms were wrapped around her body and there was even his tail wrapped around her waist. She felt warm and fuzzy from the inside, she liked it._

 _She knew he was watching her, even as she walked along the streets. Sometimes she could see him race along her, under the street, when he sprinted after a hole for the rain. She would never feel alone again. She smiled._

Splinter was her friend. Splinter was a rat. His sons were four turtles. She loved them all.

Why would the man ask about them?

But, she had promised Splinter to keep her mouth shut about his secret.

She would keep her mouth shut.

Her gaze sharpened for a second as she stared at the blonde testosterone- machine.

She smiled at him, shocking him and pressed her lips together tight.

He raised his hand and hit her, hard.

Her head flew to the side, Winter could taste blood in her mouth.

He hit her again.

The stars started dancing as the pounding got even more intensive.

Someone screamed.

The blonde jumped to his feet, whirled around.

Winter couldn`t see what was going on, but even in her dazed state, she heard the high growling from a beast. And then something brown and tall tore into the men like a hurricane.

* * *

Splinter lay low in the grass, his keen eyes observing the five men not 20 meters away from him. Four of them stood in a protective circle around another man, more a mountain of a human and his small Winter. The mountain was shaking her wildly and even dared to slap her after she wouldn`t answer his questions.

Splinter grid his teeth together, lowly growling at the blonde man. Even in his position he could smell the coppery scent of blood. He shivered, not from the cold but from anger, his eyes barely leaving his human anymore. She looked dazed, but smiled nonetheless at the man, which angered him further.

As he hit her again, all of Splinters muscles tensed in preparation to attack, he would not stand the treatment any longer. His long claws ripped open the soil beneath him, his legs drawn nearer to jump in a moments notice.

The men around had walked to stand nearer by their side, more than just one back was turned to him. He could hear his old Master talk in his head, telling him that this wasn`t honourable, but that he was trying to safe a precious person. Heart won over mind in this instant.

He jumped and sprinted to the men, his long claws instantly ripping through clothes and skin, he could feel warmth spreading over his paws. He aimed at pressure points and nerves, trying to immobilize his foes, he would never ever kill them, every one deserved a second chance!

The first man fell under a vicious strike to his neck, his knees buckled and his face met the grass just a mere second later.

The second man must have heard something before Splinters attack, because he was already moving to meet Splinters fist, could even block him and knocked Splinter out of his path. Third and Fourth grabbed him by his arms, restraining him, but Splinter leaned his weight on the two and kicked out with his now free feet, catching Second at his throat as he lunged for him.

A wet sounding gurgle escaped Second as he crumbled down, wheezing and sputtering.

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see the angry face of the blond man, who got on one knee and grabbed onto his female friend. Third and Fourth were trying to wrestle him down, ripping some of his fur out. Splinter hissed out loud, clamping his teeth down into an arm in reach. A screech of pain echoed in his sensitive ears and one pair of hands released him.

The blonde mountain of a man sprinted after him, to the lake, a small figure dangling out of his dinner plate-hands. Splinter froze, his teeth bared and hissing at the blonde.

"Stop right there, Rodent! Or I will throw your pet into the lake. And I don`t think she will be happy there." He laughed, a sadistic and manic sound that hurt Splinters ears even more.

The last man behind him smacked him hard, walking around him and to the blonde. Splinter focused on his female, his Winter, as she dangled there. Her head had lolled to the side, her eyes were unfocused. It hurt him, made his chest ache. His ears flattened against his head.

"Winter..." he murmured, so low that nobody should hear him.

Winter lifted her head slightly, her eyes racking over his form, taking him in and then -

His heart sped up, he felt warmth spread within him. -she smiled warmly at him.

It was filled with adoration and something more, something that he really couldn`t place in the moment.

"Don`t worry, Winter. I will get you back into safety, back to me. Hold on!"

The manic laughter sounded again, louder this time and then the blonde moved his arms, at the same time Splinter started to sprint again, mind focused.

* * *

It was colder now around her.

Cold and wet.

Something blocked her lungs.

The water around her was dark and serene.

She could hear screaming and growling, hissing and the sound when flesh hit flesh.

It all didn`t matter to her.

She knew that she was sinking down, the water was caressing her flesh like a lover, drawing her deeper into the wet embrace.

The pounding in her head lessened a bit as her body slowly shifted under water, her face turning upwards, to the heavens.

Her eyes locked onto the moon, it was shining brightly tonight, its rays illuminating the deep water around her.

She could hear the voice of her dear grandmother in her ears, praying, for what she did not know.

 _Cast light upon the darkened earth,  
save those lost in despair.  
O Mighty Ocean, guide us as we journey through  
the darkest pit of night.  
And may time, ever fleeting, forgive us;  
we, who have forsaken our song  
and buried our future.  
Find us, O Mighty Ocean, and forgive us_

Again and again this prayer sounded in her ears, calmed her soul.

She feared not, although her arms were bound and her legs felt like lead, her eyes still focused on the moon.

Her lungs started aching, the want to just breath in grew stronger, overriding all her instincts.

Winter opened her mouth and bubbles full of air escaped. The bubbles danced in the illuminating light, sparkling happily as they went up and up, higher and higher as Winter was sinking down, down, down.

A splashing sound ripped her out of her sluggish thoughts, something big had fallen into the water and was moving its limbs frantically. It was coming nearer with every moment.

Long brown furred limbs wrapped themselves around her in a gentle but strong embrace. Winters sinking stopped abruptly and she felt long fingered paws press her head to a furred chest. She smiled as her saviour started to swim upwards, to the light, to safety. She closed her eyes, her head felt heavy.

* * *

Splinter nearly threw Winter on the grass, crawling after her, his eyes roving over the scene, looking for more of the Purple Dragons, but they had fled after he defeated the mountain. Now his biggest worries were for Winter, who was shivering in the grass. She had an angry red coloured bump on her forehead and smeared blood on her lower face. Hastily he bit apart the rope around her wrists, pulling her against his soaked fur, for he was even now warmer than her half naked body. Why did they even remove her shirt?

Splinter purred loudly as his paws stroked over Winters bare back, his tail wrapped around her waist again. He nuzzled her, pressing his nose to her neck, inhaling her scent greedily.

He rubbed more of his frame on her, trying to warm her up and at the same time tried to distribute his on scent on her.

He was more than happy, he had his female in his arms again, slowly warming her up again. The shivering mass he was curled around was one of the best things that ever happened to him, he would have been devastated if something happened to her.

"I got you, Winter. You are safe. They will not get to you again, I will protect you."

He rubbed his muzzle against her cheek, purring again, while one of his paws grabbed his discarded robe and pulled it over her, masking her bare back to the world.

Her soft skin was pressing against him and the feeling was just delicious, feeding the warmth in his chest even more.

He relished in this moment, not even embarrassed that the woman in his arms was almost stripped down to her pants and her bra.

"I knew you would come..." her voice was soft and raw with emotion, her eyes still closed as the words caressed over Splinters ears. He could feel her shift for a moment and then her warm lips were pressed against his muzzle, just for a second.

In this second the warm feeling in his chest exploded outwards, flooding his entire body.

And in this moment, as the female in his arms sagged against him, fully trusting him, one thing became eerily clear in his mind.

He purred even louder. His arms wound around her back and under her legs, lifting her against his chest. His head wandered for just a second to her throat and even deeper, nearly to the valley of her bra and his tongue flicked out and licked over the bare skin. Savouring her taste he let his muzzle rest in the nape of her neck, his teeth were grazing the soft skin.

He bit down softly, marking the soft skin as his.

Winter was HIS.

* * *

 **I hope you like the chapter, i know that i like it very much^^**

 **See you in the next chapter^^**


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